Mumbai court refuses bail to police constable who posed as RAW officer

Additional sessions judge RJ Katariya rejected bail plea of constable Nagesh Pawar on the grounds that the cheating amount was huge, the constable’s wife was yet to be arrested and the investigation was yet to be completed

Mumbai sessions court on Tuesday rejected the bail application of a police constable who allegedly posed as an officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and was arrested for cheating a city businessman with the promise of securing post-graduate medical seats for his two sons.

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Additional sessions judge RJ Katariya rejected bail plea of constable Nagesh Pawar on the grounds that the cheating amount was huge, the constable’s wife was yet to be arrested and the investigation was yet to be completed.

Thirty-year-old Pawar, a Pune resident, was arrested by the Tilak Nagar police in Mumbai for allegedly cheating businessman Vasudeo Khetnani. Khetnani’s sons wanted to pursue post-graduate medical courses and the businessman met one Mahendra Kahar in connection with their admission. Kahar introduced him to Dinesh Kawa in June 2015, and the latter demanded ₹ 1.60 crore for securing admission for both the sons.

Khetnani reportedly paid Kawa ₹ 55 lakh and drew a demand draft in the name of a college on his request. Later, he was asked to arrange ₹75 lakh.

Thereafter, police said, Kawa, and Khetnani’s son met Pawar and his wife Roshani in Navi Mumbai and allegedly paid them ₹ 75 lakh. At the time Roshani allegedly boasted about her contacts with politicians and management of various medical colleges. Pawar was also introduced as a RAW agent.

Khetnani’s sons did not get admission and the four accused return some amount to the businessman. Roshani executed a document acknowledging the receipt of money from Khetnani and undertaking to repay the amount.

In February 2019, Khetnani registered a case of cheating at the Tilak Nagar police station.

Seeking bail for the constable, Pawar’s counsel VS Tiwari claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case.

The court rejected Pawar’s plea. Considering his role and the nature of the crime, he was not entitled to get bail at this stage, said the court.