The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case on the charges of forgery and criminal conspiracy against IPS officer Bhagyashree Navtake on Thursday. The charges relate to irregularities and falsified documentation during the investigation of an alleged Rs 1,200 crore scam.
Navtake has been charged under Sections 120-B, 466, 474, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code. She led the investigation into the Rs 1,200 crore scam involving the Jalgaon-based Bhaichand Hirachand Raisoni (BHR) Credit Society from 2020 to 2022, according to a report by news agency ANI.
The first case was registered against Navtake by Pune police in August, following a CID report that highlighted procedural lapses in the scam investigation and other unidentified persons, after instructions from the Maharashtra Home Department.
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BHR Credit Society Scam
Navtake, who served as the DCP of the Economic Offences Wing and headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2021, was responsible for probing the BHR scam in the Pune district. The CID inquiry revealed that she committed forgery by registering multiple cases under a single crime number on the same day and obtaining signatures from complainants without their presence.
Later, the Maharashtra Home Department directed the Pune Police to register a case after the CID report. The alleged scam which dates back to 2015, involved the alleged cheating on various individuals with the promises of high interest rates on fixed deposits.
Pune city police arrested one of the prime suspects, Jitendra Kandare, who was in a scam of Rs 1200 crore in June 2021 that was linked to the Bhaichand Hirachand Raisoni (BHR) State Cooperative Credit Society. The investigation against the suspects is still in process. The case was transferred to the CBI in 2020, which also filed corruption and cheating charges against the directors of a Delhi-based company accused of defrauding 12 banks.