The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested the owner of Rochees Group of companies, Ishwar Das Moolrajani, on charges of evading duty to the tune of Rs 5 crore and false declaration of goods. The group, which has branches in many countries, is primarily into manufacturing watches.

Moolrajani was arrested yesterday by the regional unit of Delhi Zone of DRI from Jaipur and then produced in the special economic offences court.

Moolrajani had received Man of the Year Award from a magazine in 1991. His company, which makes watches under the premimum brands such as Rochees, Star, Timewel, Ricoh-India and Taito, subsequently received a national award for quality product in 1997.

DRI officials said he owned many companies in Dubai, London and Hongkong, which were run by his relatives. ‘‘His modus operandi was to import watch parts from China through his Hong Kong-based company. From Hong Kong, the goods used to land in India from a different company, which was also associated with him. This undervalued the products by over 50 to 300 per cent to save duty,’’ said a senior DRI official. The company also used to bring into the country other goods in the name of importing watch parts.