Mid Day

• Profile of Avinash Bhonsle, the Rs 400-crore tycoon who was arrested at Mumbai airport on Saturday

Mumbai, May 28: On Saturday night, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), acting on a tip-off, arrested Avinash Bhonsle, a Pune-based tycoon, at the Mumbai Airport.

He was on his way back from London with his sister and was carrying foreign currency worth Rs 84 lakh, expensive designer watches and electronic goods well beyond the customs limits.

“After he passed through the green channel, he was detained for questioning along with his sister. After the contraband was detected, a panchnama was done and Bhonsle was arrested,” said an airport source.

While Bhonsle waits to be produced in a local court, MiD DAY gives you the low-down on the tycoon…

Worth: Proprietor of the AB group in Pune, Bhonsle owns five-star Hotel Sun-n Sand and a construction firm.

He is building one more five-star hotel in Koregaon Park in Pune, which will be ready by 2008. According to sources, Bhonsle’s property is worth nearly Rs 400 crore.

Travel in style: Bhonsle owns a Bell 407 helicopter and is also one of the five Indians to own the swanky Mercedes SL 500, the others being Anil Ambani, Sunny Deol, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series and Paresh Gundecha of Gundecha Builders.

Chill out: According to a source, Bhonsle loves vacationing in London. However, this was one vacation that ended on a sour note.

Bade log, badi baatein: According to sources, Bhonsle is politically well-connected and had played a prominent role in bringing in A N Roy and D N Jadhav as Mumbai’s police commissioners.

“Bhonsle has good contacts with all political parties, especially Shiv Sena and the NCP. His helicopter is often used by various politicians when they are in Pune and in Mumbai,” sources said.

A dash of glamour: Bhonsle was also rumoured to have played host to Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt during their stay in Pune for the shooting of their film A Mighty Heart.