Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Police found that 70-80 per cent investments were accepted by the accused in cash and the same was not reflected in the company’s account
By Dheeraj Fartode
Special Judge (MPIDA) S P Muley on Saturday extended the police custody remand (PCR) of Chairman of Wasankar Wealth Management Ltd Prashant Jaideo Wasankar and his brother-in-law and Director Abhijit Jayant Choudhary till August 6. The court also extended the PCR of company Director Vinay Wasankar till August 4.
Arrested on charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy and also under the provisions of the Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 1999 for allegedly duping investors of crores of rupees, Wasankar brothers and Choudhary were produced before Special Judge by Investigation Officer Inspector Sudhakar Dhane as their first PCR ended on Saturday.
Seeking extension of their PCR for nine more days, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Vishwas Deshmukh told the court that the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Crime Branch investigating the case had received complaints from 90 investors and the amount to be recovered from the accused persons was over Rs 19 crore. The investigators found that 70-80 per cent investments were accepted by the accused in cash and the same was not reflected in the company’s account, he added.
Maintaining that further custodial interrogation of Prashant, Wasankar, Vinay Wasankar and Abhijit Choudhary was necessary considering the magnitude of the crime, SPP Deshmukh informed the court that the accused trio had given company membership to investors not only from India but foreign nationals as well. As complaints continued to pour in against the accused from investors, their custodial interrogation by investigators was essential, he added.
Adv. Bhagwan Karde and Adv.Vandan Gadkari assisted the prosecution.
Strongly opposing extension of PCR to accused persons, defence lawyers Adv Shyam Dewani and Adv Anand Deshpande stated that the police had already investigated the case and seized the required documents, hard computer hard discs and other material from the accused persons.
After hearing the grounds cited by the prosecution and arguments of the defence, the Special Court extended the PCR of Prashant Wasankar and Abhijit Choudhary till August 6. The court also extended Vinay Wasankar’s PCR till August 4.
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