From Red Beacons To Fake Government Documents

Mumbai: Maharashtra-cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rashmi Karandikar finds herself embroiled in controversy as her husband, Purushottam Chavan, faces yet another legal blow. On March 1, the Surat Police registered a third FIR against Chavan for cheating and forgery in a multi-crore fraud case. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Surat has accused Chavan of fabricating counterfeit government documents in an elaborate scheme that defrauded surat based businessmen of nearly Rs 3 crore.

Businessman Purushottam Chavan, who is the husband of an IPS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, and his two associates allegedly floated fraudulent schemes and created fake government documents under the guise of a government quota and allotted flats under this pretense, leading to the misappropriation of crores of rupees, just like in the previous two cases. This is the third FIR against Chavan. Before this, Mumbai’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had filed two FIRs against him

According to the registered complaint, Surat-based textile businessman Prayag Vinubhai Jariwala (53) the complainant along with his brother-in-law Pragyesh Bhai and friend Rameshbhai Bhadhani, intended to buy a flat in Mumbai and were introduced to Chavan through another victim of the alleged fraud.

In May 2017, Jariwala and his associates met Chavan at his business address in Surat, where Chavan introduced himself as a government promoter for an under-construction project at Island City Center (ICC-1 and ICC-2),Island City Center, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Dadar, Mumbai. Chavan claimed that some flats were allocated to builders under the government quota and were later sold through senior government officials. He further stated that he had obtained Development Rights Certificates from Pune Municipal Corporation and had strong connections in the ministry.

According to the registered complaint, Gaining the complainants’ confidence, Chavan offered a flat on the 51st floor of ICC-1 for Rs 3.5 crore. The complainants were subsequently invited to Mumbai, where Chavan hosted them at a luxury hotel in Parel, arriving in a government vehicle with a red beacon to reinforce his claims of political influence. He then took them to the construction site and assured them that possession of the flat would be handed over in six months, while ownership transfer would take three years due to government protocols.

Believing the deal to be legitimate, Jariwala and his associates decided to proceed with the purchase.Chavan then instructed them to transfer the booking amount to his personal ICICI Bank account, citing confidentiality as the reason.

When Jariwala questioned why the payment wasn’t being made to the builder or government, Chavan reassured him that it was a necessary step to maintain secrecy.

Trusting him, Jariwala transferred Rs 2.99 crore from his Kotak Mahindra Bank account in Surat. His associates, Pragneshbhai Lakhlani and Rameshbhai Bhadani, also made separate payments for the flats in the same project, the police complaint states.

On April 9, 2018, Chavan called Jariwala to the Registrar’s Office in Shivdi, Mumbai, for the registration of his booked flat. When Jariwala questioned why the documentation was being processed in Shivdi instead of Mumbai City, Chavan claimed it was a government directive for quota flats. Accompanied by his friend Rakesh Mali, Jariwala proceeded with biometric verification and signed the documents, which were stamped with official seals. A woman named Suman More acted as a witness to the process.

One week later Purushottam Chavan came to Surat and handed the flat registration documents to jariwala. When he checked the documents, he found that the document number was NTNAN/3*** /2014, and the person selling the flat (the transferor) was the government official, Narayan Sawant. The seal of “Under Secretary, Housing Department, Ministry, Mumbai – 32” was also present on the documents. On page 9 of the documents, there were photos and signatures of jariwala, his wife, the transferring officer, and witnesses (Purushottam and Sumanben). When he asked Purushottam when I would get possession of the flat, he said, “The project is moving slowly, so it will take some more time.

In July 2019, Chavan, accompanied with along with NIIT student and Dean of Technical Head Textiles dean Suresh Sir(Another victim of the fraud case), visited Surat to start a garment business Rashmina Export in the name of his wife. During this visit, Chavan once again assured Jariwala that possession of the flat would be granted within two months.

But later on Chavan claimed that due to COVID-19 induced pandemic delayed the project.

In 2022, when one of Jariwala’s associates Pragyeshbhai Lakhlani, visited the property, he discovered that an entirely different family had already occupied the flat.

Then Jariwala also visited the premises to check the status of his flat, but the security guard did not allow him inside. “When I inquired at ICC 1 Cooperative Housing Society, he found that flat number 5101 was occupied by Sanjay Dutta and Mrs. Ananya Dutta,” the complainant stated in the FIR.

When victim confronted, Chavan claimed that there was an ongoing dispute between the builder and the ministry and offered an alternative flat in the 25 South Prabhadevi project. In November 2023, he even took Jariwala to the 40th floor of the building, promising ownership.

Chavan then demanded the original documents of the ICC-1 flat to allegedly finalize the new deal. Trusting him one last time, Jariwala couriered the documents to Colaba Police Station on February 6, 2024. However, after that, Chavan became untraceable.

According to the victim, the final shock to him came on May 28, 2024, when news broke that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Purushottam Chavan in a separate money laundering case.

According to Jariwala, the IPS officer had assured him a refund if he did not file a complaint. However, after months of ignored calls and messages, Jariwala had no choice but to approach the police. He has now submitted the Surat EOW FIR copy to Mumbai EOW, escalating the case.