Maharashtra IPS Officer's Husband Purushottam Chavan Arrested In Fresh ₹3 Crore Fraud Case; Surat Police Take Custody

Purshottam Chavan, the husband of Maharashtra IPS officer Rashmi Karandikar, has been arrested by the Surat police in a fraud case. Chavan is in judicial custody since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March 2024 for his alleged involvement in a Rs263 crore TDS fraud. He was booked by the Surat Economic Offences Cell (ECO) in February this year.

Chavan is accused of forging government quota property documents and deceiving persons by promising prime properties in Mumbai’s upscale areas at a fraction of their market value. Additionally, he is accused of forging the signatures of Maharashtra government officials to authenticate these fake documents, ultimately defrauding a Surat-based businessman of approximately Rs3 crore. This is the third FIR registered against Chavan and is similar to his previous fraud cases in Mumbai.

As per Surat ECO Cell officer GM Hadiya, they filed an application in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court seeking Chavan’s custody and a transfer warrant to bring him to Surat for further probe. The court granted the request on April 3, following which Surat police took him into custody from Arthur Road Jail.

According to sources, a Surat police team spent three days in Mumbai collecting key documents from the Registrar’s offices in Thane and Sewree. Officials also visited the ICICI Bank branch in Hiranandani, Thane, to obtain transaction details between Chavan and inspected a flat in ICC-1 Cooperative Housing Society, Dadar, which Chavan had allegedly fraudulently allotted to a victim under the government quota. During the visit, they gathered property-related documents of the existing family members and recorded their statements. They also visited the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) headquarters to collect case-related information and obtain crucial evidence.

In May 2017, Jariwala and his associates Pragyeshbhai Lakhlani and Rameshbhai Bhadani sought to buy a Mumbai flat. They were introduced to Chavan, who posed as a government promoter for the Island City Center (ICC-1 and ICC-2) project in Dadar.Chavan claimed to have strong ministry connections and assured them that flats under the government quota were allocated through senior officials at a fraction of their market value.

To establish credibility, Chavan arrived in a government vehicle with a red beacon, escorted them to the construction site, and hosted them at a luxury hotel in Mumbai. He then offered Jariwala a 51st-floor flat for Rs 3.5 crore and instructed him to transfer Rs 2.99 crore to his personal ICICI Bank account, citing confidentiality.

When Jariwala questioned why the payment wasn’t being made directly to the builder or the government, Chavan assured him that secrecy was required. He promised possession within six months and an ownership transfer in three years due to government protocols.

In April 2018, Jariwala underwent biometric verification and registration at the Shivdi Registrar’s Office. The documents seemed authentic, complete with government seals and signatures. A week later, Chavan handed him the registration documents in Surat. Upon inspection, Jariwala found that the seller’s name was Narayan Sawant, a government official, and the documents bore the seal of the Maharashtra Housing Department. However, possession was repeatedly delayed, with Chavan blaming project issues and later the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 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, Jariwala couriered the documents to Colaba Police residence of IPS officer 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, IPS officer Rashmi Karandikar 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.