Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed to have unearthed links between Malayalam actor Navya Nair and the arrested IRS officer Sachin Sawant. According to the charge sheet submitted before a special court, Sawant’s driver, Sameer Gabaji Nalawade, stated that Nair is the arrested officer’s girlfriend and resided in the same residential building. After she moved to Kochi, Sawant visited her 15-20 times and even gifted her a gold anklet valued at around Rs1.75 lakh.
Nalawade stated he frequently booked numerous flight tickets for Sawant. The chargesheet mentions numerous flights between Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi, Kochi, and Chennai.
Sachin Sawant-Navya Nair relationship
As per the statement of Sawant’s friend, Sagar Hanubant Thakur, they met at CrossFit Myden Gym in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, in 2017-18. They often worked out together and Sawant was also very close to Nair, who resided in the same apartment block in Sanpada. Thakur, who bought an Endeavour car for Sawant in his own name, had heard that they were involved in some financial transactions.
When ED interrogated Sawant over Nalawade’s statement, he said Nair is a close friend but he never gifted her anything. He also said that he visited Kochi to visit Guruvayur and Mannarasala temples and not for her, but doesn’t have proof.
According to Nair’s husband, Santosh, the actor received a call from ED officials about the investigation. She answered all the queries and stated that she never received any gift from Sawant. Denying any romantic relationship, she told the agency that their families resided in the same building and they knew each other very well. According to Santosh, after their marriage, they stayed in Mumbai and later in Kochi with their family. They knew Sawnat only as a neighbour.
ED's chargesheet
The ED’s chargesheet also includes the statement of Shashi Prabha Chauhan, Sawant’s social media friend; they had connected in 2015-16, following which they often met. As per Chauhan’s statement, Sawant asked her for help to use his cash. She was later responsible for managing his property, transactions, shell firms/ companies/ LLP owned or controlled. She also provided details about all the movable and immovable properties owned by Sawant to the ED.
As per her statement, she managed his company, ThreeG ID Technology Pvt Ltd, and appointed her sister-in-law Archana Sawant, and his wife Hema Sawant, as employees. She disbursed a salary of around ₹40,000 to them on paper.
