Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Bhagyashri Navtake, who has been booked by the Pune Police on the charges of forgery and criminal conspiracy, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking to have the case quashed. In her plea, Navtake has stated that the FIR against her is "vague and illegal" and goes against the principles of natural justice as she was not given an opportunity to explain the allegations levelled against her. She has also alleged that some of the charges invoked against her are not substantiated.
The case was registered against Navtake, based on a CID report that flagged procedural lapses in an alleged ₹1,200 crore scam involving Bhaichand Hirachand Raisoni Credit Society in Pune district, and other unidentified persons, on directions from the Maharashtra Home Department. The IPS officer headed the Special Investigation Team as DCP (Economic Offence Wing) in 2021-22 to probe cases related to the alleged scam.
Navtake was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 120-B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy), 466 (Forgery of record of Court or of public register, etc[.]), 474 (Possessing forged documents), and 201 (Causing the disappearance of evidence).
"Three different cases were registered under one crime in a single day, which is a procedural lapse and forgery. In two instances, the complainant was not even present when the cases were being registered. The complainant's signatures were found (on documents) even though he was not present while registering the FIRs," a Pune Police officer said.
Navtake is currently posted as the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) superintendent in Chandrapur.
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The scam, dating to 2015, involved the alleged cheating of a large number of people by promising attractive interest on fixed deposits.
