Naresh Chaddi's brother claims cops were bribed to file closure reports

Raju Pahalajani (left), Naresh Chaddi's brother

Raju Pahalajani, the brother of slain gangster Naresh Asandas Pahalajani alias Naresh Chaddi has claimed that the prime accused in his brother's murder case, former corporator from Ulhasnagar Godhumal Kishnani, influenced investigating officers of the several criminal cases against him to get closure reports filed. Echoing the same, a serving police inspector in Thane police, Bhimraj Ghadge alias Bhimrao too claimed that Kishnani and his son Pravin have a good nexus in the police, which they use to their benefit.

Also read: Mumbai: Cops Hastily Filed Closure Report, Say Gangster Naresh Chaddi's Kin

"Former Congress corporator Kishnani has considerable clout in Thane police. Taking advantage of his position, Kishnani uses the police to file fake cases against people who raise their voice against him and his empire in Ulhasnagar," Ghadge told mid-day.

"This is why people don't dare to approach police against Kishnani. Even if a case is filed, the cops never do a thorough investigation. Instead, they file a closure report. Till date, four criminal cases related to extortion, criminal intimidation, assault, murder, forgery and other charges, have been filed against Kishnani and his son Pravin at Central police station in Ulhasnagar and Bazarpeth and Khadakpada police stations in Kalyan. But investigating officers filed closure reports in these cases," said Ghadge. He had been conducting the initial investigation in a forgery case registered at Bazarpeth police station against Kishnani in 2015. However, he was removed from the investigation after he refused to take a 'bribe' from the accused.

Ghadge's forgery case

"The complainant was Prem Tejumal Gurudasani in the forgery case. I was the Investigating Officer (IO) and the accused had tried to bribe me to stop the investigation. When I refused, senior officers removed me from the investigation," Ghadge said.

The complainant, Gurudasani, said, "Kishnani had conspired to grab my land worth Rs 40 crore after making forged documents. The case was filed at Bazarpeth police station in January 2015. But the police filed a closure report without any investigation in the serious offence."

"We have approached the Bombay High Court to seek justice but the matter is pending due to the lockdown and we are yet to get a date," Gurudasani said. Ghadge added that an extortion case was filed against Kishnani in 2016 at Central police station. "But the police took a long time to conduct the investigation and a charge sheet was filed in 2019. A delay in filing the chargesheet benefits the accused in a case," said Ghadge.

"Another case of criminal intimidation and assault was filed at Central police station against Kishnani in 2016 and without conducting an investigation, a closure report was filed in June 2017," added Ghadge.

Accused's modus operandi

Chaddi's brother Raju told mid-day, "This is Kishnani's modus operandi of influencing investigating cops to file a closure report in cases against him. In the murder case of my brother, the investigating officer never told me what he has done in the investigation and suddenly filed a closure report in the court. I have lost faith in Thane police as all the cops are working for Kishnani."

Raju had appeared before justice AM Qureshi in Kalyan court last week and put forth his points as to why the closure report filed by Khadakpada police should not be accepted. "An audio clip of Kishnani is one of the crucial evidence in the murder of my brother. But the cops have not done anything to probe. Instead, they allowed him enough opportunities to seek relief from the court," Raju said.

In the audio clip, Kishnani allegedly tells a local reporter Ashok Sonawane how he got Chaddi killed and fabricated false cases against inspector Ghadge. According to Sonawane, the audio clip is from 2016. "The divisional Assistant Commissioner of Police of Kalyan, Anil Powar, had called me in March this year to know about the audio clip. He recorded my statement in the Naresh Chaddi case."

Ghadge too had appeared in court as his name was also taken in the audio clip. "I raised strong objections to the closure report as Kishnani with his nexus in the police force ruined my career by filing false cases against me," Ghadge said. "The team investigating the Naresh Chaddi case should have taken Kishnani's and Sonawane's voice samples and verified them with the audio clip. Kishnani clearly says how he ruined my life and career. The investigating team should have taken my statement too, but it did not. I told the court that the police did not probe the case and filed a closure report to shield Kishnani and Pravin," Ghadge said.

The court has set the next hearing for November 26. Local Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Pansare was unavailable for comment, while ACP Powar refused to say anything in the matter.

02 Feb
Day in 2016 Naresh was found dead in his house

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