PCR to scamster Harshkumar; parents till January 5

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Harshkumar Kshirsagar, who embezzled funds from the Divisional Sports Complex, found it easy to usurp crores of rupees. He was under the illusion that no one would find out about this, and even his parents remained unaware of the situation. Later, the family devised a planned scheme and siphoned off Rs 21.59 crores within six months. Despite knowing that their son was making a mistake, his parents and even his uncle silently consented to the scam, driven by a desire for money and a luxurious lifestyle.

On Tuesday, Harshkumar's parents, Anil and Manisha, were arrested from Murdeshwar in Karnataka, while Harshkumar was arrested from Delhi. PSI Ashok Awchar's team also arrested Harshkumar's uncle, Hitesh Ananda Shardul (35, Malegaon Camp, Nashik), on Wednesday. The three of them were produced in the court around 3 pm on Thursday. After hearing both sides, the court awarded police custody remand (PCR) to all three until January 5.

On the second consecutive day, there was an hour-long heated argument between the prosecution and the defence lawyers.

Advocate Ravindra Awasarmal represented the prosecution, while Advocate Rameshwar Totla appeared on behalf of Harshkumar and his family in the court.

The heated argument between the lawyers of both sides regarding Harshkumar's arrest, which took place on Wednesday, continued to be witnessed on Thursday as well.

The police arrested Anil and Manisha at 9 pm on Tuesday. However, Adv. Totla, claiming that they were presented in court on Thursday, raised the issue that the police had violated the law and demanded action against them.

After nearly an hour-long argument, the court directed the police to present all documents and notices related to the arrest.

The police submitted documents stating that they had detained the accused by sending a letter to the local police station in Murdeshwar and providing all the arrest papers. After this, the court rejected the request for action against the accused party and denied the request for judicial custody.

Lakhs of rupees in uncle’s account

In October, Harshkumar transferred Rs 47 lakh to his mother's bank account and Rs 22 lakh to the account of his uncle, who works as a carpenter in Malegaon. After leaving the city, Harshkumar also made plans with his uncle during their last meeting on how he would escape and seek legal advice. Due to these circumstances, the police were able to arrest him.

Passports under ‘tatkal’ category

Until around November, Harshkumar was under the illusion that he had successfully embezzled crores of rupees. However, when discrepancies in the funds were noticed during an audit, discussions about the issue began at the office. Harshkumar became aware that consultations were taking place at senior levels. Fearing that his involvement would soon be exposed, he applied "tatkal” (urgently) for passports for his parents at the Nashik office. This expedited process would allow them to obtain passports faster than usual. However, by the second week of December, a complaint was filed with the police, and the Kshirsagar family's plan to flee abroad failed.

Eight diamond-studded glasses worth Rs 42 lakh, purchased from Om Optical, have been fully accounted for. In the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Harshkumar had bought diamond-studded, gold-coated glasses from Om Optical. However, he didn’t just buy one pair but multiple pairs totalling Rs 42 lakh. Some of the payment was made online, while the rest was in cash. In connection with this, officials from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) have recorded statements from the concerned individuals at Om Optical.