Mumbai, Jan 22: In a major breakthrough in the probe into the alleged Rs 400-crore heist involving demonetised currency, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday arrested Virat Gandhi, a suspected hawala operator named in the case, from Jaipur Rajasthan. Gandhi had been absconding since the offence was registered and is believed to be a one of the key conspirator in the high-value interstate movement of cash linked to politically sensitive transactions and the alleged heist.
Investigators have identified Gandhi as a Ahmedabad based hawala operator with alleged links to an ashram and as a recipient of political funds managed by absconding thane-based builder Kishor Sawla. According to the SIT, the funds were allegedly routed for conversion into legal tender and were intended for use by a Thane-based politician who is reported to be close to the builder.
The SIT believes Gandhi and arrested accused Vishal Naidu were directly involved in the Rs 400-crore heist. Officials said the duo, along with their associates, allegedly looted two truck containers carrying demonetised cash that Sawla was allegedly transporting from an unidentified location in Karnataka to an ashram in Ahmedabad. The containers were looted on October 16, last year, at Chorla Ghat on the Maharashtra–Karnataka border.
Officials added that call detail records (CDRs) indicate Gandhi posed as “Bhau Patil” while calling builder Sawla and allegedly demanded Rs 100 crore to return the consignment. “The CDR analysis places Gandhi at the centre of the extortion plot,” a senior officer said. The SIT is expected to question Gandhi about the money trail, his alleged links with other accused, and the wider network suspected to be involved in the interstate movement of cash. Gandhi is also linked to the alleged kidnapping of complainant Sandeep Patil.
Meanwhile, explosive allegations have surfaced against the Nashik Rural police hierarchy. A police inspector attached to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Nashik Rural, has accused senior officials of suppressing, manipulating, and derailing the investigation.
In an official letter submitted to the Director General of Police (DGP), the SIT chief, and Additional SP (Nashik Rural) Aditya Mirkhelkar, Police Inspector Ranu Sampat Surve alleged that senior officers helped Gandhi and the absconding builder Sawla evade arrest in exchange for huge sums of money.
Surve further claimed that he was among the officers unofficially involved in the probe and that he illegally procured the CDRs of Gandhi after his own name and that of complainant Sandeep Patil allegedly surfaced in connection with the heist. He said he did not understand why his name was linked to the case and accessed the records to ascertain the facts. According to Surve, when the SP learned that he had procured the CDRs, he was transferred from the EOW to the Malegaon control room. He alleged that attempts were now being made to make him a scapegoat, forcing him to bring the actions of senior Nashik police officers into the public domain.
Surve alleged that an unofficial investigation was carried out even before the registration of a formal FIR. He claimed that LCB Inspector Magar and the SP were unofficially probing the case, obtaining details from the victim and accused Jayesh Kadam, and had dispatched a police team to Gujarat to trace Gandhi. “Despite this, financial inducements allegedly allowed him to evade arrest,” Survey stated, also raising questions about the call detail records of an LCB Inspector and alleging that evidence related to the Gujarat trip had been destroyed after the deal with gandhi.
Surve also alleged that two senior officials were personally acquainted with builder Sawla and remained in contact with him even after the alleged heist. This proximity, he claimed, resulted in “soft handling” of Sawla and Gandhi, a failure to establish the ownership and destination of the ₹400 crore, and a shift away from tracing the money trail. He further alleged that crucial details related to the cash’s movement, its storage at an ashram, and its eventual disappearance were deliberately excluded from the FIR.
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Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Surve said Gandhi’s arrest was the result of the investigation conducted by an IPS officer and Additional SP Aditya Mirkhelkar, who is currently heading the SIT. He alleged that certain SIT members, were attempting to manipulate the investigation.
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