CBI books IPS officer Bhagyashree Navtakke for lapses in Rs 1,200cr scam probe

Mumbai/New Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against IPS officer Bhagyashree Navtakke on alleged charges of forgery, criminal conspiracy and other lapses pertaining to a probe into a purported Rs 1,200 crore cooperative scam, an official said here on Thursday.

The CBI Special Crime Cell-III action against Navtakke -- currently po sted as Superintendent of Police, State Reserve Police Force -- came barely six weeks after she was booked by the Bundgarden Police Station in Pune for the shortcomings into the investigations of the financial scam in Bhaichand Hirachand Raisoni State Cooperative Credit Society (BHRSCCS) that erupted between 2020-2021.

At that time, she was the Pune Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Police & Economic Offences Wing), and the Pune Police had booked her following a CID probe report submitted to the DGP that raised concerns of procedural and other lapses in the BHRSCCS investigations; and now the CBI has filed a FIR against her in the same sensational case.

The CID probe revealed that in November 2020, Navtakke had committed alleged irregularities like registering three cases under the same crime on a single day (at Deccan, Alandi and Shikrapur police stations, all in Pune district), and later carrying out a joint raid at the BHRSCCS offices in Jalgaon.

Besides, there are charges of forgery for allegedly obtaining the signatures in absentia of the complainants (Malati A. Sable, Ranjana Ghorpade) then, under-valuation of the properties of the BHRSCCS, not following due procedures for the EOW to step into the case, etc.

After getting the CID report submitted to the DGP, the Maharashtra Home Department asked the Pune Police to file a case on August 27, 2024, and three days later, official sanction was granted by the state to take action against the IPS officer.

The purported BHRSCCS scam dates back to 2015, when the prime accused, Jitendra Kandare (arrested in June 2021), and others allegedly duped several thousands of people by lure of high returns on fixed deposits, and then defaulted on their promises.

As the scam got bigger with around 80 complaints lodged in the state, and the cheated amount estimated at around Rs 1,200 crore, the case was transferred to the CBI in 2020 which started its probe into the cases of corruption, cheating, frauds, and several persons including the directors of the BHRSCCS and some public entities were arrested.