The Wadhawan family, promoters of Diwan Housing Finance Limited (DHLF), accused in the Yes Bank case, have been released from the quarantine facility and have been asked to stay at their home in Mahabaleshwar from where they were detained on April 9.

After completion of the 14-day quarantine period, all 23 members including Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, were released from the facility, officials said. The Wadhawan family has been directed by government authorities to not leave the Satara district without permission from the Central Bureau of Investigation.

On April 9, Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan were detained in Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in Maharashtra. Taking note of the matter, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had written a letter to the District Magistrate of Satara asking him not to allow the Wadhawans to leave the quarantine facility without the probe agency’s permission.

The CBI is likely to arrest Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, however, the court has put a stay on the non-bailable warrant against the duo till May 5.

The Maharashtra government has also informed the CBI and ED that all 23 members will be released on April 22 and they will provide assistance if the agency decides to take any action against the Wadhawan brothers.

The Enforcement Directorate, which also wants to question the Wadhawan brothers, is in touch with authorities in Satara and is keeping a close watch on developments as well.

Speaking to India Today TV, sources in the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the Wadhawans have been visiting Mahabaleshwar for some time now. The sources said the family was there with a big entourage in mid-March as well.

This development comes at a time when probe agencies have had issued multiple summonses to the Wadhawans to join the probe in the Yes Bank case. However, they have refused to appear for questioning arguing that they can’t appear due to the spread of novel coronavirus in India.

In their reply to the ED’s request to join probe on March 17, the Wadhawan brothers had said that in the prevailing scenario in the country, health is the first priority.

“In the current environment of the coronavirus outbreak, it is a government directive to curtail travel [sic],” Kapil Wadhawan had told the ED.

His brother Dheeraj, in a similar letter to the ED, had said, “Considering the Covid-19 pandemic, with my already compromised health and age, I am at high risk, and consequently, for my own health and safety, it is difficult for me to travel back to Mumbai. I would request you to appreciate that in today’s circumstances in the country, health is a priority.”

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in the Yes Bank scam case and also in the underworld don Iqbal Mirchi property case.

The CBI is probing the Wadhawan brothers in the Yes Bank case on allegations that DHFL received Rs 3,700 crore of investment in exchange for paying Rs 600 crore as bribes to firms related to family members of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor. The ED is also probing this case.

The Enforcement Directorate is also probing DHFL and its promoters in connection with Iqbal Mirchi property case.

The presence of the Wadhawan brothers in Mahabaleshwar came to light when other family members and their domestic help reached their bungalow in the hill station. Seeing them, the locals reportedly alerted the police. The officer who allegedly provided them permission to travel has been sent on leave and an investigation has been ordered by the Uddhav Thackeray government.