CBI takes over two Jalgaon cases, one involving a former special public prosecutor

CBI takes over cases involving former special public prosecutor in Jalgaon. Allegations of illegal demands for bail and unfreezing bank accounts surface.

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over two cases from the Jalgaon police, one of which involves a former special public prosecutor.

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One of the cases is related to a January 2023 First Information Report (FIR) at the Chalisgaon police station. The FIR names three people, including a special public prosecutor in Pune at the time, Pravin Chavan, who allegedly asked a businessman to pay them ₹1.22 crore in exchange for securing bail for his father and unfreezing his attached bank accounts, according to CBI sources.

The complainant, a 31-year-old businessman, alleged that his troubles began after his father purchased three properties of the Bhaichand Hirachand Raisoni Multi State Co-Operative Credit Society in Jalgaon through an e-auction. The society was being liquidated as it was unable to refund depositors’ money.

The complainant said that when the liquidator was proceeding with the e-auction, police officers registered three different false offences in November 2020 against his father in Pune. He added that the three cases were filed “only with malicious political motives”.

The complainant and his father were arrested in one of the cases in August 2021, and Chavan was appointed as a special government pleader. The complainant said that his bank accounts, as well as those of his companies, employees and relatives, were then allegedly frozen even though he had “no personal connection with the said offences”. He claimed this was “deliberate harassment” to create financial difficulties and fear. The Bombay High Court granted the complainant bail in May 2021, saying he had no role in the said offence.

“Till date, the liquidator …or any other competent officer had not and has not drawn any conclusion in any court that the concerned auction process was illegal or legally irregular. This proves that said false offences were registered only with a political motive and to involve my father in false cases,” the complainant told the police. The charges against his father in the case included cheating, making a false document in the name of a fictitious person, and forgery, among other charges.

Later, when the complainant was at his father’s shop in Pune, a stranger allegedly gave him a message from Chavan asking him to pay up or else his father would continue to suffer in jail and his bank accounts would remain inoperational. The unidentified man also allegedly referred to a Jalgaon-based businessman who was Chavan’s associate.

The complainant met the Jalgaon businessman, also an accused in the CBI’s case, in November 2021. The businessman allegedly made the complainant speak to Chavan through an encrypted app, Signal. The complainant alleged that Chavan told him he should arrange for ₹2 crore if he wanted his father to be released on bail and get his bank accounts unfrozen.

Later, the complainant alleged that Chavan reduced the “illegal demand” to ₹1 crore. The Jalgaon businessman sought an additional ₹22 lakh for being the middleman in the negotiations. The complainant, however, did not pay up. When contacted, Chavan denied all the allegations against him, saying they are politically motivated. “The case was registered after a gap of 18 months based on false allegations,” he said.

The second case the CBI took over is related to an FIR registered in October 2022 by the Jalgaon city police. The complainant, a 43-year-old businessman, said the local police had filed a case against him and his colleague, which was later transferred to the Pune police.

The complainant said that on January 9-10, 2022, the Pune police searched his house with the help of the local police when he was not at home. One of his relatives’ houses nearby was also searched, he added. A few accused persons had allegedly plotted to enter his home when the police were searching his relative’s house to plant false evidence, including a knife and a few documents, the complainant claimed.