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This is an archive article published on May 24, 2024
ED arrests Maharashtra IPS officer’s husband in Rs 263 crore I-T fraud case
Before this, the ED arrested four people in connection with the Rs 263 crore Income Tax Refund (ITR) fraud case.
Purshottam Chavan, who the ED said was involved in the possession of part of Proceeds of Crime (POC), was arrested on Monday. (Representational Photo)
In its latest action in the Rs 263 crore Income Tax Refund (ITR) fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the husband of a senior IPS officer from Maharashtra.
Purshottam Chavan, who the ED said was involved in the possession of part of Proceeds of Crime (POC), was arrested on Monday under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. He was produced before a special PMLA court that remanded him to the ED’s custody up to May 27.
The ED, however, has not yet come across anything that points out that the Indian Police Service officer helped her husband. This IPS officer was instrumental in arresting the accused in the ‘Bulli Bai’ app or Clubhouse cases in 2022 where images of Muslim women were posted in an attempt to “auction” them and objectionable content was shared in the chatrooms.
Before this, the ED arrested four people in connection with this case — former Income-Tax (I-T) officer Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, Bhushan Patil, and Rajesh Shetty, who are in judicial custody. Another accused Rajesh Brijlal Batreja is in ED custody.
Adhikari, whom the Central agency arrested last year, allegedly generated fake Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) refunds to the tune of Rs 263 crore when he was posted at the I-T Department’s Mumbai office.
The ED’s action is part of its investigation initiated based on the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Delhi under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Adhikari and others for fraudulently generating and issuing TDS refunds from the Income Tax department to the tune of Rs 263.95 crore.
The Central agency’s investigation revealed Rajesh Batreja and Chavan were in regular touch and shared incriminating messages related to hawala transactions and diversion of proceeds of the crime, ED stated.
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The ED also raided the residential premises of Chavan on Sunday and seized several property documents, foreign currency, and mobile phones. The agency has claimed that Chavan tried to hamper the investigation by destroying evidence which could further lead to the tracing of proceeds of the crime.
The anti-money laundering agency has already seized and attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 168 crore belonging to the accused in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
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