Non-bailable warrants against IRS officer for duping man of Rs 17 cr

Prashant Rokde, an IRS officer of the Maharashtra cadre who has worked closely with top BJP leaders, including Union minister Nitin Gadkari, is facing non-bailable arrest warrants for allegedly duping a Jalandhar-based investor of Rs 17.41 crore.

The officer has filed a bail petition in a Jalandhar court that will be heard on October 25.

He and 18 others have been booked by the City police under Sections 406, 420, 506 and 120-B of the IPC at the Division No. 7 police station. In a complaint lodged on March 27 this year, a resident of Urban Estate alleged that Amrawati-based IRS officer and his team of 18 other men had duped him.

He said he was planning to start a new venture for his son for which he met Amritsar-based Tilak Raj. Tilak introduced him to Rokde as Joint Commissioner posted with the Customs Department in New Delhi in May-June 2022.

He said he proposed to start a wine business and asked him to invest Rs 20 crore in that.

Over the next few months, the complainant said, he transferred money in instalments into the accounts of the accomplices of the IRS officer, including Shrirang Chandrachurh, Tilak Raj and others, from his own account and that of his wife and son. He said he was promised that he would be able to make Rs 170 crore by February 2023.

The complainant produced before the authorities records as regards money transfers, messages, calls etc.

The city police lodged a case on August 7. It arrested Tilak Raj from Amritsar on August 13 and Chandrachurh from Amrawati on August 14. The name of the IRS officer was, however, added later in the FIR.

The other accused include Babu Singh of Ahmedabad, Yash, Shubham, Prajakta, Sushil, Anjali, Deepali, Praag, Avinash, Ankit Aggarwal, Raj Thakur, Parmar and Nilesh Libre, all from Maharashtra. Confirming the development, Swapan Sharma, Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, said the matter was being probed.