New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to reports, has issued lookout circulars (LOC) on Friday against former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon managing director Venugopal Dhoot. 

The trio, last month, was booked in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to the group in 2012.

According to reports, a CBI official said, “After CBI filed its preliminary inquiry last year, lookout circulars against Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot were issued for all airports, which have been revived now. LOCs were filed after the FIR and are mandatory in cases where such economic offences are alleged. In recent times, keeping an eye on travel plans is a top concern for regulators.” 

Meanwhile, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking forward to investigate the couple’s assets, including their South Mumbai apartment. The couple is likely to be questioned by the ED soon. 

Last month, the CBI also carried out searches at multiple locations, including the offices of Videocon group in Mumbai and Aurangabad, offices of Nupower Renewables Pvt Limited which is operated by Deepak Kochhar, and Supreme Energy after registering a case.

The move comes 10 months after the CBI registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot, Deepak Kochhar and unidentified others in March last year, they said.

A PE is a precursor before the agency lodges an FIR to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected during the former exercise.

With PTI inputs