Railway policeman approaches Shiv Sena strongman to recover his Rs 6.5 lakh from rogue property agent

Nitin Nandgaonkar, known for his aggressive methods to resolve disputes, with complainant Anand Chavan

Let down by his own fraternity, a railway policeman was compelled to approach a Shiv Sena strongman to get back his Rs 6.5 lakh from a property agent. Anand Bhimrao Chavan said he made several rounds of the Panvel police station to file a case against the agent who had taken the money towards token payment for a flat, but the cops did not help.

A Native of Usmanabad, Chavan joined the department in 2002 and wanted to buy a flat. "While searching for a flat in Panvel, I bumped into an agent Raj Dubey in 2018. I finalised a 1-BHK flat in Panvel that cost Rs 45 lakh. After borrowing money on interest from relatives and friends, I made a down payment of Rs 6.58 lakh. I had planned to take a bank loan for the remaining amount, but it did not get approved," said Chavan, who is attached to the Government Railway Police at Churchgate.

Raj Dubey, the agent

Chavan said he wanted his down payment back from Dubey, but the agent kept on delaying. "Since Dubey had been delaying in giving back the money, I visited Panvel City police station to register an FIR against him in September 2019. I made several rounds of the police station during that time but the cops always turned me away saying that it was a civil matter," Chavan said.

"I slipped into depression as I had to pay the interest but my own money was stuck with Dubey who kept saying that he would return it after his sister's wedding," Chavan said.

Anand Chavan, who approached the Sena man

With no help coming from his own fraternity, Chavan said, he approached Sena strongman Nitin Nandgaonkar, who is known for his arm-twisting tactics to resolve matters.

"I was surfing the internet and found Nitin Nandgaonkar. I met him at Sena Bhavan during Diwali last year and he [Nandgaonkar] asked me to write a letter to the chief minister explaining my ordeal. Later, he intervened and called Dubey," he said. "After his conversation with Nandgaonkar, Dubey got riled and he started to abuse me on phone and told me to ‘get anyone involved but the money won't be returned'. I met Nandgaonkar again who called him on phone," said Chavan, who added, "Dubey, on several occasions, returned small chunks of money. After Nandgaokar's intervention, he paid Rs 90,000, but Rs 2.5 lakh is still pending and Dubey is not willing to return it."

Talking to mid-day, Nandgaokar said, "He [Chavan] belongs to a middle-class family and the agent [Dubey] had abused him. How can someone abuse the police who has been there all the time to support us? I had to help him and get his money back."

The agent's version

Terming the allegations false, Dubey said, "Chavan gave me R50,000 in December 2018 and on various occasions he gave me a total of R6.5 lakh. Later, the flat deal was cancelled and during that period my sister's marriage was fixed for which I needed money. I asked Chavan if I could use his money for my sister's marriage and he agreed to it. I promised to return his money but then the COVID-induced lockdown was imposed in Mumbai. Due to COVID, my construction work and estate agent work stopped. My income sources collapsed."

Dubey said he returned a major portion of the money in the past year and only R65,000 was pending. "I requested constable Chavan to give me some time to arrange the money but he was in no mood to listen. On phone, he started abusing me on my sister and mother. I told him not to use bad language but he was not ready to listen. So I abused him on the call. Later he approached Shiv Sena leader Nitin Nandgaonkar who called me. I requested Nandgaonkar to give me a month's time and he agreed. I abused the constable because he used very bad words against my mother and sister."

Dubey added, "I cleared the balance amount after I got commissions from my clients. I have paid the security deposit for the rented flat where Chavan lives now. Now, he is out to malign me."

Shiv Sena leader shares video of call with the agent Raj Dubey

Hello, I am Nitin Nandgaonkar speaking.

Did you abuse the constable?

Dubey: No, sir, I didn't abuse the constable.

Nandgaonkar: I gave you one month's time and it's over. He is calling you for his money only. How dare you abuse a policeman?

Dubey: I will send you a recording of the conversation, he started abusing me.

Nandgaonkar: Okay, send me the recording. I'll call you again after listening to the recording. Also, you come to meet me at Shiv Sena Bhavan on Monday [March 21] at 2 pm.

Dubey: Okay sir

The video also shows Chavan telling the controversial politician that Dubey had cleared the pending amount.