Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

Yet another case of defaulting on payment of whopping Rs 3 crore by Wasankar Wealth Management has come to light. Wasankar has reportedly threatened an investor who parked his moolah into the company’s dubious scheme promising him of 24-27% of high yearly returns. Wasankar applied the pressure tactics after the cheques issued to the said investor bounced for lack of funds.

The said investor who resides in Laxmi Nagar had invested the amount of Rs 3 crore he secured from his business and bank loans. He had taken the loan for some business purpose which did not work out and eventually put his money into Wasankar’s scheme in July 2013.

When the cracks started appearing into the scheme and the investors panic grew, this investor approached Wasankar and informed him about his concerns. He told Nagpur Today that when he asked for his money back, he was misguided by the company which gave him few cheques which did not carry the stamp and name of the signatory. Even the promissory note was not issued to him. “Only after I repeatedly insisted on the required documentary assurance, Wasankar gave us the revised cheques bearing the stamp and name, along with promissory note,” he informed.

The investor then deposited the cheques as per its due date in September this year, but the cheques bounced due to insufficient funds. He contacted Wasankar and asked for his invested sum back if the latter could not give any interest.

This investor further told Nagpur Today that on September 28, 2013 when he went to Wasankar’s office, he was warned that his money would not be returned if he further makes issue out of it. Wasankar also bought 4 days to return the money but later refused to talk or meet in this regard.

The investor is wary of lodging the police complaint in this regard as he feared that he could lose his money in the process.

Wasankar requested investor not to reveal anything in media

Meanwhile, it is learnt that Wasankar turned extra cautious after the media approached this investor. “Then Wasankar approached me and requested not to speak out anything before media,” the investor informed adding that he only reverted with the demand that Wasankar should return his money.

Wasankar then assured of paying Rs 52 lakh on the spot while the rest to be paid in instalments through post dated cheques for the months of January, February and March next year. After Wasankar paid Rs 52 lakh, Rs 2.75 crores were left to be paid. Succumbing to the pressure from the said investor, Wasankar gave away post dated cheques of the instalment along with a promissory note.

This week, the investor approached Wasankar again to ask for money as he required to pay off against some immediate purchase of property. But Wasankar not only refused to meet him but also not paid anything. However Wasankar came with this piece of advice to the investor to refrain from going to media against him.

:: Rajeev Khushwaha

Wasankar warns investor to keep shut on cheque bounce; fails to repay Rs 3 cr

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

The next time you write the list of grocery (Kirana) items for your monthly needs, don’t write chocolates. Or you plan to visit a kirana shop for purchasing a petty item, be prepared to receive one or two chocolates priced at Re 1 or Rs 2 without demand. Now-a-days, the kirana traders have adopted a new tactic of handing over a chocolate or two in place loose coin change. The acute shortage of coins is forcing the traders go for chocolates notwithstanding customers like it or not.

However, only kirana traders or to some extent medical shops, who also store chocolates, have been sparing themselves from the shortage of loose coins the chocolate way! But the awkward situation is not easy for hundreds of other traders to deal with. And the customers, too. Many customers were seen keeping the big currency note with the traders for want of change and out of no choice, too.

The most difficult time the citizens take the maximum brunt of coin shortage is at Railway counters, buses, Government offices where money transactions take place, hospitals and at other places. Here, the chocolate tactic could not adopted, and the net outcome is citizens running from one corner to another or purchasing unnecessary items for the sake of change to complete the deal at Railway counters and other transactions.

One of the traders admitted acute shortage of coins and was also a surprised one. The Reserve Bank is making coins of different denominations available in sufficient proportion. Where the coins of going? According to the trader, “Dalals” (Touts) have gone on coin grabbing spree and are selling the same to needy traders on hefty commissions. The touts earn Rs 15-20 for every deal of Rs 100 coins.

The touts are ruling the roost and the customers and the traders are ruing the situation.

Enjoy chocolate…city lacks the change…!!

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

While the conserved and hard core traditional lot in Nagpur might raise eyebrows over a couple staying together without tying nuptial knot, the latest Supreme Court ruling has left them tongue tied over the fast catching trend. SC ruled that a live-in relationship not sanctified by marriage is neither a crime nor a sin. The apex court has asked Parliament to frame laws that will protect women in such relationships, and also the children born outside of wedlock.

“Live-in or marriage like relationship is neither a crime nor a sin though socially unacceptable in this country. The decision to marry or not to marry or to have a heterosexual relationship is intensely personal,” the SC said adding however that it was not asking the Legislature to promote pre-marital sex.

In the light of above decision Nagpur Today explored the viewpoints of citizens across various professions and what came out was the mixed bag of expressions.

Still worrisome for women

Rajni, a housewife for 10 years said one of her friends in Nagpur has been staying with her boyfriend after their parents disapproved of their marriage. “They carried the relationship quite well and now have two years old child. They still live together and enjoying each other’s company but still my friend has apprehension about the future of this relationship. She is most bothered about the security of her child. Now she plans to marry her,” she said.

Shudh Desi Romance?

Sarika, a college student commented, “If you remember the last scene of the latest flick Shudh Desi Romance, both the boy and the girl run away from the altar and end up reaching the same place where they earlier lived-in. I find the boy’s views at the end quite justified when he says that if you find yourself inside the locked room then you struggles to break free and when it remains open then you may feel like staying inside the comfort of that room. So is the difference between marriage and live-in relationship.”

Nobody mentions plight of men

LLB Student Rajneesh Roy said, ‘Not crime not sin but foolishness. In most cases women will not support men when he faces difficult situations. The men end up realising that women were there only for their money and years of his savings wasted. As soon as the male becomes unstable the women will choose to leave him. Women easily find new live-in partners. If the man chooses to leave, then too the woman will make sure she gets a big pie as they know to play victim easily. Not to mention the humiliation. I’m not trying to be biased but nobody ever mentions the men. Supreme Court must ban such practices and in special cases must provide some sort of legitimacy for such relationships, she said.

Humans are not objects for ‘test drive’

Retired Civil Engineer Manoj Kumar said, “It’s a shame that some people can’t see the difference between an inanimate emotionless object like a car, and a human being. One can test-drive a car before owning it, or even discard it to buy a better one, at will. But, with most people marriage is a once in a lifetime event, and one chooses a life-partner who’s a companion for life. It’s the misguided youth who ape the Western culture, who treat relationships without much sincerity or commitment. If you are a man, how would you feel if your wife had test-driven many ‘cars’ before you married her or vice-versa? Would you like to own that car or even drive it ever again? He asked.

It’s fine if situation favours

An engineering student Devansh Jayaswal said, ‘Getting involved into something like live in relationship is something that should actually be done with a matured thought. He added that getting into this is not a joke it can affect one’s whole life. He opines that there’s nothing wrong if one gets involved in it. While talking about the decision taken by the Supreme Court he said, in my opinion the decision taken by the Supreme Court depends upon the situation. If a married woman gets the maintenance then the girl involved in this situation should also get the maintenance, he said.

Grow up before you get into live-in

School Teacher Manisha Kumar opined that, ‘Being amongst the youth I realize that they think they get mature before they actually do. Though she added that it’s true that children nowadays get matured fast but that doesn’t means that they can take such decision in a haphazard manner. This is not something funny to take decision without thinking number of times. Though she added that, people think if they get involved in this live in relation they will understand each other more. It may even help them know if they are really their true partner, she said. If maturely taken the decision is not wrong. But if taken by a young mind it’s completely wrong. Talking about the Supreme Court’s decision she said, “Since there is nothing illegal it’s right.”

Protection should be taken

Engineering Student Animesh Sharan said, “Such relationship, may endure for a long time and can result pattern of dependency and vulnerability, and increasing number of such relationships, calls for adequate and effective protection, especially to the woman and children born out of that relationship.”

Take factors into account before moving in

Businessman Arvind Mehra said, “Duration of relationship, shared household, pooling of resources and financial arrangements, domestic arrangements, sexual relationship, children, socialization and intention and conduct of the parties about their relationship should surely be heard and kept in mind before making any decision. He added that decision should be dependent on the case and not just one firm result. “

Bane for Indian society

Retired environmental engineer Arjun Rajonkar opined, “Supreme court is transgressing its limits by saying that live in relationship is not a crime or sin. Who are they to decide what is acceptable to Indian society and what is not? Live in relationships are a bane to the society. Whichever countries have endorsed such anti-social setups have already ruined their family and social setups completely. It is not always necessary for Indians to imitate the west in every issue. Indian family set up is much stable and better in comparison to western society and we do not want to learn from the west in this aspect.

SC ruling over live-in relationship finds fewer takers in Nagpur; Many disagree with trend

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

It appears Wasankar Wealth Management has switched to the strategy of appeasing its small investors while shattering the hopes of those who parked huge funds into its money multiplying schemes. Of late, these schemes have turned into nightmare for the big investors as large number of them were not paid as promised. Situation has so much deteriorated that the big investors are pushing hard to get their actual sum back but all efforts went in vain.

Playing smart to ward off the apparent trouble, the company’s chief Prashant Wasankar has been applying various tactics. The latest one is pulled directly from the Hollywood movie character Robin Hood who is known to rob the rich and help the poor. Working on the similar lines Wasankar has turned Robin Hood for small investors as that was only option left with him.

Sources revealed that the situation has turned from bad to worse and this tactics will fail sooner or later as Wasankar is fast inching towards depleting funds in his treasure. Moreover, the frustrated big ticket investors whose deposits run in crores of rupees has sensed the situation is going beyond control and ultimately fear losing out on their money. Most of the investors who met Nagpur Today, were of the view that Wasankar should come clear with his intentions along with the detailed repayment schedule. He must also reveal his source of payment. Wasankar has long list of top rung investors owning large business in the city.

Wasankar recently came under the clouds for defaulting returns on huge investments of gullible investors. The things get murkier when some of the cheques of big amount he issued to the investor bounced for the lack of funds.

One of the prominent reasons behind investors’ anguish is that majority of funds floated by them allegedly do not have any record in their income tax statements. Most of investors have exercised calm over the situation because they fear of falling into unwanted tax trouble. Wasankar had promised 24-27% annual returns to the big investors while he lured small investors with as much as 36% returns.

Soon after the investors smell the rat and panic grew larger among them, Wasankar called an urgent meeting of investors and again promised them to return the amount, this time the interest rate reduced to half. Even after his assurance, investors are still insecured about their invested sum.

It is learnt that the investors are wary of moving to police station as they do not want to get into further trouble. Wasankar has also applied pressure upon the investors so that things do not go wrong.

::: Rajeev Khushwaha ( mail to : rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com )

Wasankar plays Robin Hood; tries to calm small investors to avoid ‘big trouble’ ahead

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

Wasankar Wealth Management had reportedly acted smart while shifting the people’s money to personal ventures. It is learnt that one of his kin who owns a stretch of land beside Sonegaon police station is in family relation with Dr Prashant Wasankar.  The kin said to be close to two corporators of national political parties. On many occasions, one of these corporators was found referring Wasankar as his relative. Wasankar also responded to this leader positively and even invited him as Chief Guest in all his official and personal programmes. Wasankar reportedly spent huge amount during last  election and also splurged during the election of this corporator.

Trail of aggrieved investors

It is learnt that large numbers of employees and officials in Vanamati functioning under Agriculture Department had invested in Wasankar’s ponzi schemes. One such employee on condition of anonymity revealed that he got invested Rs 1 lakh in the name of his wife. Initially he got the sum with interest. Excited over the returns, he got the same amount invested again and also prompted his other family members to park the funds to the tune of Rs 40 lakh. “But today when we asked for our money we were told by Wasankar that there is no rule to return the money before the completion of duration and that money will not be returned now”, he informed.

Double whammy of Wasankar and Shreesurya

Similarly there is one Deshmukh family residing in a locality on Amravati road, who had invested in Wasankar. They also put their money in Shreesurya’s dubious investment schemes and struggling to get their money back. Now they are facing double whammy as cracks started appearing in Wasankar . Similarly one Jain who resides in Sadar had an investment of Rs 30 lakh stuck in Wasankar’s money multiplying scheme. Karade family faced the worst of it as they had invested Rs 2.25 crores in Shreesurya and another Rs 1 crore in Wasankar. Not the uncertainly looms large over the security of both their investments.

Whistleblowers being threatened

It came to light that those who took Wasankar’s shortcomings to the media are being threatened by the middlemen who are trying to protect Wasankar from legal intervention in the scam.

No action on CD expose

Social activist Sanjay Agrawal had earlier leveled serious allegations pointing out the malfunctioning by Wasankar group. Agrawal had then presented the recorded video compact disc of the expose flashed on one of the regional news channels. The CD was also handed over to the serious fraud investigation department and also shared with the income tax department, but none of the authorities initiated any action against the company till date.

Wasankar tried to cover up

Sensing the urgency, Wasankar then immediately got it registered under Security and Exchange Board of India which also acted lame when the irregularities in Wasankar surfaced. However, the company still operates in serious violation of norms set by Reserve Bank of India.  RBI in its reply on July 19, 2012 against the RTI query filed by Sandeep Agrawal of People Against Corruption, said that neither Wasankar Wealth Managament nor Wasankar Agro Wealth Pvt. Ltd were registered with RBI as Non- Banking Financial Companies. The RBI also stated that there were no such guidelines that make it free for public and private companies to accept deposit from investors. RBI never issued any guideline which says RBI permission is not necessary for inviting deposits.

- Rajeev Kushwaha ( rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com )

Wasankar uses his political proximity to ward off trouble from investors

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

Dr Prashant Wasankar, proprietor of Wasankar Wealth Management is gaining notoriety with every passing day. This time suspicion is being raised over his doctorate degree. Insiders revealed that investors who are wary of their funds parked into the ponzi schemes of Wasankar, even suspect the veracity of his degree which enables him to prefix “Dr” before his name.

Panic over the security of their funds, a section of investors has even questioned the authenticity of Wasankar’s doctorate degree. One of the investors who approached Nagpur Today demanded that it’s high time Wasankar should come forward and clear the air over his dubious schemes and also the fact that from where and when he got his doctorate degree. “He should also reveal under whose guidance Wasankar has completed his thesis required for doctorate,” quipped the investor.

Now that the investors are queuing up at Wasankar’s office, the company has adopted the trick to calm down small investors while blatantly missing out on due dates of payment for big investors.

It may be mentioned that Nagpur Today had earlier posted the news in this regard in which it was informed how Wasankar has been appeasing small investors while keeping the investors who parked huge amount at bay. Now the reports stand true as a national daily quoted one of the investors, an MSEB employee, as saying that Wasankar has been paying up interest of 2% per month on their investments. However, this fact finds contradiction in the deposit returns set by Reserve Bank of India and Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The RBI guidelines specifically bars investment with the promise of such high returns. However this does not hold much water for Wasankar which is not even registered with RBI as Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). The fact came to light when Sandeep Agrawal of People Against Corruption sought reply from RBI in an RTI query filed by him.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that Wasankar got one of the leading media house involved into his plan to seek some positive publicity. It was also known that some renowned faces from media are all out to protect Wasankar who is using his contact to suppress negative news against him and to bring out some much needed favorable news from the media.

On Wednesday, another big investor approached Nagpur Today. This investor has Rs 1.9 crore stuck into Wasankar’s scheme. The maturity of payment is due now but the investor is worried he may not get his amount back. Wasankar had earlier promised to him that he would pay 25% amount only and rest in 6 EMI. Now Wasankar is not even willing to meet him, informed the investor.

On Tuesday morning, investors gathered at the firm’s office in small groups. Even as Wasankar attended some of them and a few of them got a part of their amount due, others had to keep waiting.

When did PC happen?

A national daily reported that a press conference was arranged on Tuesday evening by the group which supported Wasankar, but it was later cancelled. When Nagpur Today dug deeper it came out that neither the patrakar bhawan was booked for the press conference nor the information was sent to other media houses regarding this press conference. This indicates something fishy that points to such orchestrated arrangement to come clean.

Now suspicion raised over Wasankar’s PhD

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

The whistleblower, one among those who prominently raised the issue of Wasankar Wealth Management and Shreesurya Group illegally inviting deposits from the gullible investors, is reeling under constant threat to his life and property. Concerned over the threat calls received in the past and also sabotage of his vehicle last year, Sanjay Agrawal, President of People Against Corruption has moved a petition in Nagpur bench of High Court for providing adequate security to him and his organisation’s vice-president Sandeep Agrawal who is also his younger brother. The petition will come up for hearing next week.

Talking to Nagpur Today, PAC vice-president Sandeep Agrawal informed, “Though we have filed the petition, it may come up for hearing next week. We had earlier approached police commissioner twice but nothing was done to provide us adequate security. As I have raised many issues and exposed major scams and irregularities in private companies and businesses along with government departments, I can sense the threat ahead. Earlier I was not scared of anything but now I have been experiencing the danger for the last 2-3 months. Since there was no action on this front from police commissioner’s office I filed the petition in the court.”

In his petition (no. 650/2013) Sanjay, 40, resident of Agrasen road in Dharampeth area on Nagpur, stated that in the wake of his capacity as a whistleblower he had received threat to life on previous occasions too. Even he apprehended the danger looming large this time after the recent expose of Wasankar Wealth Management which came under the clouds for defaulting on payments promised to its investors. Wasankar had promised high returns to the investors and illegally collected money from them despite having no authorization from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nor from the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). A local daily also claimed about Wasankar not registered with either of the two financial watchdogs.

On May 7 this year, Agrawal had also written to the Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs in which he complained about such ponzi schemes running unabated in the city without any check.

He also mentioned the recent assurance of the state government over providing protection to the whistleblowers if needed. Stating this assurance, Agrawal made strong ground for adequate security to his life and property and that of his vice-president.

The petition stated that on February 19, 2011 the glass of his four-wheeler was found broken by some unidentified people who committed the act in midnight. Later on November 4, 2012, PAC’s vice president Sandeep Agrawal received threat call on his mobile in which he was warned of dire consequences. Agrawal said that police complaint was also lodged in both the cases.

In his petition he said that he had made representations before the Commissioner of Police on February 6 and September 6 this year, in which he had demanded security from the concerned authority. Later, Sitabuldi police station officer also came at his house to seek his statement. However, no security was initiated in place till date.

Agrawal had earlier also blew the lid over the illegal load shedding, gold schemes run by jewelers, issue of Krazy Castle’s alleged use of its property for marriage purpose, irregularities in octroi funds by the NMC officials and various other dubious business.

Whistleblower who exposed Wasankar senses threat to life; moves HC for security

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

Till recently, a prime property located opposite Ambazari lake displayed a board of Wasankar Wealth Management Ltd. The company’s chairman Dr Prashank Wasankar was anxious to set up its corporate office there. But the hell broke loose over the company as its dubious activities were exposed. Now the display board is gone from the site. Sources reported that Wasankar has kept its properties on sale to control the flurry of investors at his office.

Insiders revealed that as illegal collection of deposits from investors snowballed into controversy, Wasankar landed in big trouble surfacing a big scam ahead. In order to tame the rising resentment among the investors who panic to draw their investments back after the company’s illegal operations came to light, the company’s Chairman Dr. Wasankar is busy looking for options to calm down the air against him. The group is reportedly contemplating selling off its prime properties to pay back to the gullible investors.

The said property in Ambazari, the market value of which runs in crores, has reportedly turned as face savior for Wasankar who has put this site, reserved for his corporate office, on sale. “Now this is the only option left with Wasankar if he wants to get out of the mess,” informed a source close to the company.

It is learnt that Wasankar also owns a couple of properties on Amravati road and if need arises he will be disposing these properties as he has to pay back huge amount to his customers.

Wasankar recently caught the eye of storm when it surfaced that the company received huge amount of money from investors against the promise of high returns without any legal authorization from RBI and SEBI. In clear violation of norms, Wasankar invited the investors with the promise of returns as high as two and half times in just two and a half years. He also promised three times return for the deposit for four years.

Wasankar was only authorized to advice investors on share market, mutual funds, foreign exchange, debentures, gold and future market but cannot float investors’ money through his company. It is learnt that Wasankar claimed that he invested people’s money in share market for which he has not even registered with SEBI nor he got permission for the same.

An estimate roughly puts the total amount invested in Wasankar to Rs 1500 crores which the company received from investors under its various schemes.

The investors have sought security against such dubious ventures floated by Wasankar. No action has been initiated yet against Wasankar by any of the monitoring authorities. Even the inaction from local authorities generated suspicion among the aggrieved investors.

Wasankar out to sell its prime properties to return investors’ money

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Amidst the chilly breeze surrounding the city, wedding bells are echoing in the air for all the prospective brides and grooms. As the season calls for ideal time to take marital vows, some happy go lucky types have chosen the time as best fit to get engaged and know their partners for life. But before you move ahead to get cozy with each other, get ready to answer the volley of questions pitched against you. Like grooms will be interrogated by his friends on counts like koi aakhri ichha ho to bata de…(Tell us if you have any last wish), shaadi mein daba ke peeyenge..(Will drink like fish in your wedding) or even this…bhabhi ki koi behen nahi hai (Don’t your wife-to-be has any sister)…These questions might make you uncomfortable but you will have to answer those anyway. Now that you are engaged, we acquaint you with the series of questions, some of them are typical familiar ones, you could encounter…Get set go…

Kab shahid ho rahe ho…?             

Well this sentence is generally asked from grooms to be. Hearing this, you would feel like reacting, “Well, I got engaged only yesterday. Let me at least begin my courtship.” But, you would not speak that out of course. So, if you have a wedding date, answer them back. Otherwise, just say “Our families are discussing it. Let us see what date is finalised.” Moreover, if your wedding day is more than a year away, then be prepared for another round of questions like, “How did your family agree for such a long courtship?” or “Why are you waiting for so long?”

Ladka kya karta hai…!!!

Well, expect this question if yours is an arranged marriage. Overenthusiastic relatives might also ask about the conversation the two of you had before saying a ‘yes’. Topics like ‘the first meeting’, ‘his qualities that impressed you the most’ are the most frequent ones. However, the most annoying questions come from our snoopy aunts who unhesitatingly ask, “Does he drink or smoke?”, “Ladka karta kya hai?” (What does the guy do?) and “How much does he earn?”

Will you work after marriage?

Your feminist contemporaries and conservative aunts (for obvious reasons of course!) will surely ask this question. If you say ‘no’, then the follow-up question would be, “What is the use of studying so much?” or “How can you just be at home all day?” You might feel the urge of replying with, “Someone please tell all these people that marriage comes with loads of responsibilities. There is nothing wrong with me if I just want to enjoy being married for a while and cook for my husband. I can always work when I want to.” And, if you think saying ‘yes’ would save you from all this nonsense, well then you are mistaken. People will add another set of questions like, “Oh! your in-laws agreed?, and “How will you manage work and home together?”

Shaadi ke baad…will you stay with in-laws?

Well, some relatives wait to pop up this question soon after you exchange rings. Some married friends might also ask you this question, especially those who have had some bitter experience staying in a joint family or with in-laws. If you agree for a ‘joint family’, then be prepared for a whole range of questions on the kind of in-laws you have, number of brother and sister-in-laws, and many more. However, if you say ‘a nuclear one’, then all you will get to hear is, “Wow, Lucky You!”

Where’s the honeymoon

Well, there is nothing personal when it comes to asking this question to a newly-engaged couple. You might feel like asking them, “Why, do you want to accompany me?” But, you cannot say this. So, if such a question is asked, instead blush a little and then speculate on a few options like “Singapore, Malaysia or Europe” or “We have not yet decided on it?”

Engaged…?? Be ready to face these typical questions from friends, relatives

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Now, the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his Cabinet Ministers, MLAs, top Government officials are in Nagpur, the city rattled by scamsters, for Winter Session of Maharashtra Legislature. All these top dignitaries have been well apprised of the scams and duping of thousands of small and middle class families in crores.

Nagpur News: The disaster has struck. The past four years have proved destructive for citizens of Orange City. The monster of “greed” for more and more easy money among people in general and the middle class families in particular has swallowed them. The monster of “greed” left thousands of middle class families shattered with their hard earned money being gobbled up by scamsters or fraudsters or swindlers or scandalous elements.

Now, the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his Cabinet Ministers, MLAs, top Government officials are in Nagpur, the city rattled by scamsters, for Winter Session of Maharashtra Legislature. All these top dignitaries have been well apprised of the scams and duping of thousands of small and middle class families in crores. If the Government shows its will power to provide justice to the devastated families and also avert such calamities in future, it should bring forth the strongest law and enact an Act by which the innocent citizens would be adequately protected from falling prey into the traps of robbers in white collars. At least, the leaders can develop the Second Capital by this act to avoid such disasters in future.

And the reason for all this disaster, devastation, and destruction is thoughtless investment by the citizens in the firms which have trapped them in a well-planned conspiracy by luring the investors of doubling, trebling their money in the shortest period. And the blame for damage lies only with the middle class families for their thoughtless actions of pouring money into the firms without ascertaining the credibility of the firms and their offers of multiplying the invested money.

Of course, police and Government agencies like Reserve Bank of India and other monitoring agencies have totally failed to alert the citizens to not to fall prey to any allurement of doubling, trebling the invested money as the offers could be a trap by the individual scamsters, fraudsters and swindlers. The police and Government agencies were fully aware that some individuals through their companies were spreading their net to trap the citizens by publishing full page advertisements in local newspapers on regular basis. Had the police and Government agencies also issued caution notices about the nefarious designs of the firms, thousands of citizens would have been spared of looting of their hard earned money. The police and the Government agencies are the main “culprits” for throwing the common citizens into the traps of scamsters, fraudsters, and swindlers.

The scamsters Pramod Agrawal, Jayant and Varsha Jhamre, Sameer and Pallavi Joshi took the advantage of the loopholes in rules and regulations and criminal negligence on the part of police and Government agencies in trapping the innocent citizens and swallowed their money in crores. Though they may be in jails but the fact would not provide any justice to the thousands of duped investors unless their money is returned back by the perpetrators of devilish actions. Now, the newspapers and other media have been running the disturbing reports of Wasankar Investment Company’s evil actions of duping the investors.

The Nagpur Today, keeping in mind the interest of citizens and their hard earned money, is providing some tips taken from bestseller book “How to smell a rat” written by Ken Fisher and Lara Hoffman. The tips are about investment in future and alertness:

ALTERNATIVES FOR INVESTMENNT:

·         Invest in fixed deposits in nationalized banks or post offices, Government bonds, Government insurance schemes, Indira Vikas Patra, Kisan Vikas Patra etc. These are safe investments for middle class families.

·         Middle class people should avoid investment in share market. Share market is full of risk. If want to invest, then invest through Government or private company mutual funds.

·         Take utmost care in dealing with share brokers. Ascertain whether the broker or sub-broker is registered with SEBI. Check whether the broker has permission to deal in share market. Know from the broker in which share the investment is being made.

·         Stay alert and ensure the broker is investing your money in share market and not running his own scheme with your money. Always check de mat passbook for entries of purchased or sold shares.

·         Procure statement of transactions from the broker. If any dispute arises with the broker, file a complaint against the broker in SEBI. The complaint can even be lodged on SEBI website.

·         Think twice before investing in private firms offering 30-40 per cent interest on your investments. No firm can give such massive interest in any circumstances.

Also Read Below Nagpur Today Report on Wasankar

Wasankar Scam : Investors panic as promise of high return turns fake; CM’s intervention urged

Nagpur News: After EOW has arrested directors of ‘Shreesurya Group’ under charges of cheating  over 10,000 investors from farm crisis hit Vidarbha and Marathwada,  luring them with towering return. The ponzi schemes by this group turned out to be fraud as the investors are now running from pillar to post to their money back. The same fate appears to be in the offing for one such company Wasankar Wealth Management being run by Dr. Prashant Wasankar here.

Wasankar gave post dated cheques

It surfaced that Wasankar Wealth Management company has eroded the hard earn money of  over 2000 innocent  people by offering them quantum hike in their sum within short span of time.  The documents in possession of Nagpur Today showed that Wasankar charged huge amount membership as much as Rs. 1 lakh per annum and collected over Rs 2000 crore. He assured the depositors by giving them post dated cheques offering around 30% interest on deposit. A source close to the organization revealed, “Forget the interest, now investors are finding it tough to get back their own money back.”

CM urged to interfere

Kishore Tiwari of  Vidarbha Janandolan  Samiti (VJAS) informed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Prathiraj Chavan has been urged to initiate the action against  Wasankar Group promoters under Maharashtra protection of investors deposit act 1999 (MPID) in order to save these investors. In a press release Tiwari said, “The greed of higher return is leading to victimization of innocent. Most of the investors are middle class pensioners. Hence we are urging CM to have urgent intervention to get these pensioners their actual sum atleast. We have received many complaints about Dr. Prashant Wasankar denying pay back, citing financial crisis.”

Tiwari insisted that the state should give him financial bailout package as all illegal activities of Wasankar was promoted and protected by babus, police and other hostile pillars of democracy.

Expanded to Australia, Singapore

In a letter to CM Tiwari said that Dr. Prashant Wasankar  has been working in Nagpur as sub-broker of BSE-NSE capital market since last 23 years. He has earned the confidence of investors to larger extent and has been writing in local newspapers on wealth creation solutions. He managed to arrange investors meet in all metros of India and abroad and also having active operation in Australia and Singapore but his real activities of  running fishy and illegal deposits schemes offering unbelievable interest rates were reported in February this year.

When Shreesurya scam was exposed first by Nagpur Today, cracks started appearing in the trust that people had in Wasankar. Since then, panic grew large among investors who lined up to get their money back. It was then that investors realized they have been dumped and cheated by fraudulent misleading investment advices given by Dr.Prashant Wasankar.  Eventually, hordes of investors approached VJAS to  get back their hard earned money back.

Promissory notes, cheques point dubious detail

VJAS has also attached promissory notes and cheques given by Wasankar and also the interest chart signed by himself. This also proposed the schemes that offer to double the money within 30 months along with  a membership proposal that required the people to deposit 1 lakh rupees. Later, Dr.Prashant Wasankar failed to return the money.  He has been asking the investors to wait citing recession in share market while the gullible investors keep visiting the office of  Wasankar Group. In the letter to the Chief Minister,  VJAS has drawn the attention of administration that all deposits collected by Wasankar’s company are illegal and has no legitimate status where as he has been fully protected by local Police Authorities, SEBI, RBI, Govt. of Maharashtra etc. The pattern of functioning of Wasankar Wealth Management Group  is nothing but money laundering activities and it has international network too, Tiwari  alleged.

Wasankar’s bankruptcy reported earlier

Recently the alleged  illegal activities and bankruptcy  of Wasankar group was reported in electronic and print media but administration and police turned blind eye that time too. But now investors are gathering before the office of Wasankar Group  and crying for money. However they are finding themselves helpless as administration is yet to take the matter seriously.

Authorities must act before it’s too late

Sameer Joshi has duped innocent investors of around Rs.240 crore earlier. Pramod Agarwal through his dubious money doubling scheme duped thousands of investors to tune  of Rs 100 crore on the name of Mahadev Land Developers and  Ullas Khaire had dumped  around 1 lakh people of Rs 1,100 crore and now this Wasankar Group  likely to repeat the same story. “Hence we are urging CM to initiate action under  Maharashtra protection of investors deposit act 1999 (MPID)  against  Wasankar Group  Promoters so that innocent investors hard earned money is protected,” Kishore Tiwari added.

Will State Govt provide justice to devastated investors, enact law to avert duping in future?

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

While the first day of winter session witnessed quite an uproarious atmosphere both inside and outside the state assembly in Nagpur, there was something more than what meets the eyes. Amidst the traffic chaos on the roads leading to Vidhan Bhawan, the cops had the tough time containing the unruly crowd. But what these cops noticeably ignored was the fancy number plates the leaders proudly flaunted on their vehicles.

Nagpur Today lensman Amol Gajbhiye caught up with few such luxury sedans moving unchecked into Vidhan Bhawan with the confusing number plates.. Looking at the party sign on one these number plates of a hi-end car can tell you which party leader one of these vehicles belongs to. The number 7171 was so stylishly carved out on it that it reads out “Nana” in Hindi. Similarly, on another vehicle the registration number 3171 looked like “Anna” in Hindi. Hence it came as no surprise when all the appeals made by these leaders from the agitating crowds to maintain orderly protests, fell on deaf ears.

When the law makers itself turn into law breakers, only whims and fancies will drive to the corridors of power.

Nagpur Traffic Department should take due cognizance of this fact.

Unlawful Power Drive : Leaders flaunt ultra fancy number plates on their vehicles

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

All the hopes of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenders (LGBT) were shattered as the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that consensual sex between adults of the same gender is an offence. While the decision shocked the specific community, it also sent the message straight to the larger masses about the uniformity of law.

Setting aside the Delhi High Court verdict of 2009, the apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhayay said that there was no constitutional room for change in Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 377 of IPC holds that sexual relationship against the order of the nature is an offence.

In Nagpur too there are several organizations working for the health and welfare of the LGBT community. NGO Sarthi Trust has two projects which work for the health and identity of the LGBT community members. While the project involving health for the members includes 1580 people and the second project Pehchan has 1345 members association with it. Another two organizations have 1700 members and additional 265 members in rural Nagpur.

Nagpur Today dug deeper into concerns of the members of gay community in the light of the latest SC ruling and also interacted with some other people to air their views in this regard.

Anand Chandrani who runs Sarthi Trust working for the human and health issues of LGBT community said, “Though we respect the Supreme Court’s decision, we would continue our fight against discrimination. We have to lobby parliament people now and put a demand to frame a law in favour of our rights.” He added, “As an individual I fell the constitution has provided the equality for everyone and given opportunity to lead equal life. But after the decision of the Supreme Court I feel my personal life is encroached upon and now anybody can raid my bedroom and call me criminal. This is totally against the article 15 and 21 which provides me the freedom to lead my life the way I want. But now this article is more applicable to me.”

Social worker Gargi Dhoke said the ruling disheartened her and she will protest the same and continue to fight till resolution is attained. “Nobody can distinguish anyone on the grounds of sexuality. This is truly unfair.”

Rahul, a member of gay community said, “I am unhappy and equally shocked over the court’s ruling. We are in 21^st century and talk about moving ahead but by this decision it seems we are again going backwards. There are other matters in which court can lay down stringent norms for those who commit rape, murder and even desert their age old parents. Why such a harsh stricture for the community which does not harm anyone. What others have to do about what two individuals are consensually doing in their private time. We are also independent and free to do whatever we want. This decision indicates that we are still not free.”

He asked, “Why judge a person from his sexuality and not by his capability and talent. If homosexuality is not a crime then how come the activity is crime? If we are not given our rights in our own country then where will we go for seeking pleasure? The authorities pronouncing the verdict are educated. We trust them for every decision but now we should we go now. Till this decision came, the society was gradually developing acceptance towards us. We even let our sexuality known to most of the people but now same people will treat us differently.”

Rahul added that when we do not ask anyone why you are attracted to only woman and not any man then who is anyone to question us and object our choice of sexuality. He said that such things have existed in the past. “Even Alexander was a gay”, he claimed. This decision has broken many hearts and it will have long repercussions on us.

Kabir Khan, another gay said, “This is not justice. Recently a spiritual guru objected our sexuality and look what he did.” He revealed, “Even there are many in the society who willingly slept with me even as they led married life. I must say that I have slept only with straight men. More people have such feelings. They enjoy but do not accept. We are not doing any kind of crime.” He said, “I should say that Justice has been denied.”

LGBT community in city disheartened over SC decision; plans to take their fight to parliament

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

As the dubious estate of ponzi schemes running with the lure of handing out high returns started to collapse, the investors have become wary of parking their funds into every other organization, especially those promising them high returns. After Shreesurya Scam and Wasankar Wealth Management defaulting hugely on payment, city’s another firm Satvik Financial Services Private Limited running its office from Bharat Nagar has come under the clouds for not paying to his customers as per the promise he made in his promissory note. The company has been operating its deposit schemes under its arm Satvik Investment.

“Forget the monthly interest, we are now running from pillar to post to get our principle amount and now he has even stopped responding to my calls,” lamented an investor who had parked Rs 5 lakh into his scheme on April 26, 2013. He was promised the monthly return of Rs 25,000 beginning 30 days after the execution of the promissory note. However, till date neither he received any interest nor his principle amount. The concerned investor who practices in Australia as a pediatrician and currently on sabbatical has been going through the tough time following up the company’s Chairman Amol Dhake who reportedly floated the amount into other avenues. He also provided the post dated cheque (dated July 26, 2013) as the guarantee against the deposit. However the cheque has bounced twice for the lack of sufficient funds in the account.

“Dhake had been pestering for the investment through one of his mediators for a long time. Seeing that my relatives had also put their hard earned money into Satvik Investment, I also shelled out Rs 5 lakh for which I had to earn Rs 8 lakh as there is a 40% deduction on the earnings in Australia. When I came to Nagpur I was given the promissory note and the guarantee cheque. He had promised the amount of Rs 25,000 till the maturity of the amount. However till this date, I have not received a single rupee from his side. He has even stopped responding to my calls now, nor he is giving any word as to when he would return my money.”

One of these investors had even sent him the lawyer’s notice but he did not receive the notice.

Another relative of him has invested Rs 2 lakh and facing the similar trouble. Then there is a builder who had invested more than one crore rupees.

Dhake in his promissory note, a copy of which is in possession of Nagpur Today, has stated that he has taken the money as unsecured loan and is not abided by SEBI, RBI, NBFC and any other government bodies’ rules and regulations.

When Nagpur Today contacted Amol Dhake, he said, “There has been a trend in Nagpur to give money on the basis of trust. I do not have many such investors who have handed out the money to me for investing on this basis. There were some revenue restrictions due to the dollar pressure due to which there is some delay but I will pay all of them in the next 2-3 months.”

When told that he was not responding to any of the investors’ call, he denied doing so adding that the investors could have come to me if there was any problem. “I am very much accessible,” he said. Upon the payment default, he said, “The avenue in which I have invested the money for the concerned investor might have reported loss due to which I could not pay money on time but it is not that I will not pay. I will certainly pay them back.”

When asked if he was authorized to collect such a huge deposit without any authorization from SEBI or RBI, he clarified that the mode of investment which he had invited does not fall under the norms of both the governing bodies as it was done purely on trust.

Meanwhile, the investors were not willing to buy Dhake’s theory and hit the panic button. “Similar assurances have been given in the past too but no substantial results have come across. Now we are considering approaching Economic Offences Wing for help,” said one of the investors.

After Shreesurya & Wasankar, now Satvik defaults on payment; Dhake clarifies stand

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.
Even as the traders lobby against local body tax (LBT) and called a city wide strike on Friday, other side of the picture reveals the massive evasion of the newly enforced tax that was brought into existence in place of octroi. Among the big evaders include the traders that deal in computers and related electronic goods. While the cash strapped Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is struggling to cope up with its drying accounts, a massive evasion of LBT by the computer dealers in the city has come to light. The reason behind the squeezing NMC exchequer is not due to the imposition of LBT but for the non-payment of this newly applied tax.

Assistant Commissioner, LBT Mahesh Dhamecha has recently raided few big evaders however the evasion that was unearthed was just a flash in the pan, given the quantum of various such murky deals across the city. When Nagpur Today contacted Mahesh Dhamecha about the massive LBT evasion by the computer dealers in the city, he said, “Some of these activities have even come to my knowledge and I am planning to inquire further into it. This could be true that such computer dealers are not paying either LBT or VAT and running their business on their own free will.”
“Since today is the traders strike against LBT, all the business establishments are shut down but I will certainly look into the matter,” Dhamecha told Nagpur Today.

About the strike against LBT, he said that the reason which he see behind the protest is that now the traders will have to bring their every sale and purchase on record, while it was not so at the time of octroi. “When the octroi was into existence, the traders had to pay only at toll booth and move on. This way they can get off from maintaining record of their sale and purchase. Now this appears to be their bone of contention as they will no longer be able to hide anything”, he said.

However, a group of computer traders have reportedly found the way out. Sources told Nagpur Today that most of the computer dealers running their business in Dhantoli area of Nagpur are involved in getting their goods directly from the grey market without the interference of the distributor, and skip off maintaining the records and easily evade LBT.

Most of these dealers get computers and its parts from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai which is imported from countries like Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia where all these goods are available Duty Free. The goods include branded personal computers (PC) and lap tops, assembled personal computers and accessories that mainly include printers & networking products

An estimate shows that 5000 to 6000 personal computers are sold across Vidarbha in a month. While in Mumbai the sale is 73000 personal computers per month and in Pune the sale figure stands at 18000 – 20,000 personal computers.
Mix of legal and illegal purchase

The data obtained by Nagpur Today states that only 3000 lap tops and branded PCs are sold in the city every month with the LBT and other taxes paid. However, most of the dealers who purchase raw material for assembling the computers go scot free without having to pay any tax and they have developed fool proof mechanism to ditch the LBT.

The goods that these unscrupulous dealers and traders bring mainly include processors, mother boards, hard disks, ram etc. The major tax shuffling is done in these products only. These are bought from the grey market at 10 to 20 per cent less than the original costs. Interestingly only those goods are purchased from the grey market that turns out profitable while those available at prices as low as Rs 1000 are brought from the distributor. These include key boards, DVD writers, cabinets etc. “This way they make a perfect mix of legally and illegally purchased goods which helps them to avoid any action.”

Bill on ex-Wadi delivery
These unscrupulous dealers issue or give a bill that shows the product as ex-Wadi delivery making it look like the product has not attracted any LBT, while most of these computers are sold from the showrooms only. These dealers allegedly bring goods in large numbers and pay the LBT which the National Distributor reimburses. These dealers then sell 50 per cent to retailers or customers outside city limits or in Chhattisgarh or Madhya Pradesh without any bill. This way he has saved 50 per cent of money which he would have had to pay as LBT to NMC. To add to this LBT evasions, these traders blatantly sell it to the regional distributors and dealers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh saving VAT money in other states. They are transported by leading Travels of the city.

How traders evade taxes, save on fake bills
This dealers save LBT which the National Distributor has already reimbursed, 2-3 % by giving bills for goods a retailer has never sold and another 4% of VAT and get off unnoticed. For example if he sells computer 3-6 percent less than the original value since he has already recovered it by evading LBT, VAT and other ways, he will certainly book more profit against his sale. However in this process, these unscrupulous dealers are disturbing the Market Operating Price. This ensures regular and more customers than other registered shops (abiding all legal taxes and LBTs). Any customer getting goods for lesser amount certainly visits again and spreads the news of cheaper goods through the word of mouth too. These unscrupulous dealers have their shops and business establishments concentrated in Dhantoli area.

Why big fish being spared
What is surprising is that the Municipal Authorities are raiding small shops and business establishments or those showrooms with high end good, where no or few customers visit, while big fishes earning in crores (in the bracket of 120 to 300 Crores per annum) are in the lake yet to be caught. Is it that NMC has failed to notice them or is it that they are not aware of the blatant violations or better still, have they some arrangements to turn a blind eye towards them.

With these unscrupulous dealers doing brisk business blatantly violating all rules and regulations, the dealers who abide by all the rules and regulations, pay all the taxes and LBT, feel cheated. They are left high and dry not even able to meet the required sales target.

 - By Samuel Gunasekharan

Massive LBT evasion by Computer dealers in Nagpur; Authority assures action soon

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

The outgoing year has seen a lot on the crime chart, with the cases chain snatching, murders and theft topping the order. But the year also saw the decline of tall investment giants in the city who promised high returns against deposit. Hordes of gullible investors lost their hard earned money into dubious ponzi schemes of Shreesurya group and now Wasankar Wealth Management which went a step ahead in duping investors of crores of rupees.

As Nagpur Today dug deeper it was revealed that Wasankar Group has been involved in collecting money from depositors without any proper authorization for the past many years but he managed to cover up his ill doings. It was only after an investor came forward and unmasked their ponzi schemes that Wasankar’s major financial fraud surfaced. Investors alleged that Wasankar Investment Company had promised to pay double and thrice the invested money. In the process, the group has blatanly violated Companies Act, Income Tax Act, Acceptance of Deposit Rules and Maharashtra Stamp Duty Act along with regulations of SEBI and Reserve Bank of India.

A leading daily newspaper Lokmat has been digging in the details of Wasankar Group and the fraud cases. But, a major breakthrough, an investor came forward and provided documents and fraud papers of Wasankar Group. The investor, on the promise of anonymity, informed that he had invested Rs 8.5 lakh in Wasankar Group.

Wasankar’s dubious tool -  Perk and T-48

Wasankar Investment Company offered two schemes namely ‘Perk’ and ‘T-48’. Under the ‘Perk’ scheme, the Group offered to return 2.5 times of the principle money in 2.5 years. In the other scheme ‘T-48’, the investors were offered a handsome return of 3 times the invested money in four years. In addition to these, Wasankar Group offers regular yearly, half-yearly and quarterly investments schemes. The documents provided by the investor clearly claims false schemes and clearly violating ISE Security Sub-Brokers Bonds.

60% interest !!!!

It is surprising to learn that under the ‘Perk’ scheme, Wasankar Group lured the investors to give a handsome interest of 5% every month which nets a total of 60% per annum. The over inflated rate of interest even did not let any suspicion among the investors who fell prey to the bait and invested lakhs of rupees in anticipation of getting huge returns. Under the ‘T-48’, Wasankar offers 4.16% interest totaling 50% per annum interest to the investors. In the yearly schemes, the group offers 25-32.5% interest. It must be learnt that no investment scheme could provide such high returns for their investments. And, no company could earn profit after giving such high returns.

The said investor had invested Rs 1 lakh under the ‘T-48’ scheme on December 31, 2012 to earn thrice the sum but all his hopes shattered when he realized that he had knocked the wrong door.

Two companies under Wasankar group

The said investor informed that Wasankar Group has two companies under its name – Wasankar Investments and Wasankar Wealth Management Limited. Prashant Wasankar started Wasankar Investments 22-23 years ago to gain license for share broker. Now, the license has been transferred in the name of Wasankar Wealth Management.

Documents prove fraud by Wasankar

The documents presented to Nagpur Today by one of the investors prove that Wasankar Group accepted money in the name of Wasankar Investments. However, the veracity of the documents is under suspicion, given the fact that instead of proper stamped documents, the investors were handed over a printed copy of ‘Certificate of Investment’. The self stamped copy has only name of the investor, the money invested and the date of amount recovery from the company. However, it is interesting to note that no company name was mentioned in this print out copy. Although, a rubber-stamp of the company was given on the copy.

Smartly channelized cheques

The investors revealed that the first part of their investments were received in the name of Wasankar Investments, the next cheque is directed to the Indian Overseas Bank savings account of Dr Prashant Wasankar. However, this seems that the savings account cheques and Certificate of Investment were meant to handle the fraud cases.

Prashant Wasankar’s confession

Prashant Wasankar, on the request to clarify his stand over the issue, met some media persons to clear the air. He confessed that the documents presented by the investor were true and also identified his signature on the papers. Clearing his side, Wasankar informed that every share broker provides such receipts to their investor. However, no broker is liable to receive the ISE Security. Thus, receipts of Wasankar Investments were given to the investors, Dr Prashant Wasankar explained. However, Wasankar fumbled when the media persons informed him that there were share brokers who received the amount under ISE’s name and which were in a pretty much legal way.

Questions raised over Wasankar’s intentions

Wasankar could not answer any of the other questions and maintained silence when he was asked

- Why no revenue stamp is available on the certificate of investment?

- Why the return cheques  were not given from the current account of Wasankar Investments and are given through his savings account.

-  How the company could provide 50-60% interest in short span of time?

- No share broker could predict the profit-loss in the business then how come Wasankar Group assures the high returns to the customers?

::: Rajeev Khushwaha 

More skeletons tumble out of Wasankar group’s investment scam; Documents turn out fake

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

In the light of recent allegation by social activist Medha Patkar about the sale of sick sugar mills in Maharashtra to politicians at throwaway prices, a major sell out at dirt cheap prices cropped up in Bhandara district. The sick sugar mill Wainganga Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana along with government leased 66.53 hectares of land which was mortgaged to Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) was sold for a consideration of just Rs 14.10 crores whereas the current value of the land stands at somewhere around Rs 300 crores. The said sugar mill and the land is located at mouza Narsinghtola in Mohadi tehsil of Bhandara district.  And the sale was done in favour of none other than Wainganga Sugar and Power Limited, a part of Purti Group owned by former BJP leader Nitin Gadkari. It is learnt that the said land along with movable and immovable properties is now mortgaged with Bank of India’s corporate branch in Nagpur for Rs 39.50 crores.

Talking to Nagpur Today on phone, Medha Patkar said that it is a matter of detailed inquiry to find out how the privatization of cooperative sector has happened. “Suprisingly, Gadkari’s Purti Group bought two separate sugar mills and land at similar price of Rs 14.10 crore. Similar pattern of fraud was followed in this deal as was done in case of Chhagan Bhujbal’s buying a sick unit in Malegaon, Ajit Pawar in Aurangabad and Amit Deshmukh who bought Priyadarshini mill,” she added.

Patkar said that it should be investigated properly how such loss making mills were permitted and whopping loans accumulated on it later on. “Why bank provided such heavy loan amount to these units. It seems it was a ploy to first seize the sick unit and then committing fraud in selling those out at dirt cheap rates. Even no proper bidding was done in the process. The dues of Rs 800 crores of the workers from 40 such factories are still not paid. Even the permission of farmers was not taken before moving ahead with the deal. This is clear violation of Cooperative Act,” she said.

However much murkier was the picture even before the said sugar mill and the land in Bhandara came into the hands of Purti Group. Bhandara district administration which originally owned this 66.53 hectares of land had leased it out to the erstwhile Wainganga Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana on December 22, 1986, which further mortgaged it to Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank for want of loan. When the loan payment was defaulted the bank put up the land for sale. Later, the land was cannily sold under the much low profile deal with Vidarbha Realties Private Limited, the rechristened Wainganga Sugar and Power Limited which became a part of Purti group. The deal was sealed on March 8, 2010, when the value of land was not less than Rs 100 crore but it was sold at Rs 14.10 crores only. This was the deliberate ploy to ultimately bring the land to the ownership of Gadkari, a source added.

Liability of Rs 3 crore only!!

Bhandara district collector had earlier fixed the liability of Rs 3 crore as unearned income on Wainganga Sugar and Power Limited for overlooking revenue norms but later shifted the same to MSCB on the appeal by Wainganga to the Divisional Commissioner. However what went unnoticed, or deliberately kept under the wraps, was the petty price of Rs 14.10 crore given for such a whopping piece of land comprising sugar mill and additional 66.53 hectares of open land leased by the government.

Rajesh Pugalia, Nagpur district Secretary of Aam Aadmi Party said, “An independent inquiry should be conducted under Supreme Court. We do not believe in CBI inquiry as it is running at the hands of Congress which is backing Gadkari in Nagpur. It is not just the question of defaulting on liability of Rs 3 crore but it’s a scam which runs in hundreds of crore. A detailed inquiry should be conducted to find out what amount of loan was pending on Wainganga Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana at the time of its auction. The timing of the deal should also be taken into consideration as there is some political interest linked to it, Pugalia claimed.

Patkar too demanded judicial probe into more such deals of sick sugar units. “The chief minister said that inquiry is on but it is being conducted by ministry. How can you expect ministry to conduct an impartial probe. We want judicial probe into the matter,” Patkar told Nagpur Today.

Gadkari’s co took loan of Rs 39.50 cr on sugar mill land bought at Rs 14.10 cr!!

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

In a non-descript village of Navegaon in Mohadi tehsil of Bhandara district near Nagpur,

Premlal Patle is an aging man with more lines of worries on his forehead. At the age of 62, he has only two acres of land to feed a family of 17 members, some of whom do odd jobs to help the house fire burning. Patle has been rendered jobless after the Wainganga Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana was mortgaged by Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) for loan default. The sick sugar mill and the government leased 66.53 hectares of land were later sold to Purti group’s company at merely low price of Rs 14.10 crore. However, Patle along with some 600 odd workers are still struggling for their dues after the closure of the sick unit.

Patle was the laborers’ representative in the erstwhile Wainganga Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana which was rechristened as Wainganga Sugar and Power Limited after it became a part of Purti Group, a company owned by former BJP president Nitin Gadkari who also chaired the company till the controversy broke out regarding another land grab case.

        Also Read : Gadkari’s co took loan of Rs 39.50 cr on sugar mill land bought at Rs 14.10 cr!!

Patle told Nagpur Today, “We have been struggling for our due payments for the period between the year 2000 to 2006. MSCB sold the company after the loan default and at the time of sale it was clearly stated in the agreement that workers’ due of Rs 8 crore would be paid. However the due amount was about Rs 14 crores but they have still not paid what was committed.”

In a letter written to the Bhandara collector on November 1, 2012, Patle along with other representatives of factory workers said though the land priced at more than Rs 100 crore was sold to Purti group at just Rs 14.10 crore, they were still deprived of their  their dues. “It was a planned sale and NCP leader and Union minister Prafulla Patel also had some role in getting the mill and the land transferred to Gadkari’s company,” he alleged. Patel is Lok Sabha MP from Bhandari-Gondia parliamentary constituency.

The collector then handed over the matter to tehsildar who just sat on the files and did nothing. Later the workers moved Bhandara court against MSCB to get their dues. The court ruled in favour of the workers but MSCB again appealed against the order in Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.

“The case is still pending and we have been struggling till now”, Patle said. Though Purti group is at the helm of entire affairs, Patle said their fight is not against the group but with the bank that backed out on its promise to pay our dues. “It was clearly mentioned in the agreement that the bank will pay Rs 8 crore against the salaries and other dues of the factory workers but it gulped entire money received from the group,” he fumed.

Narrating the sorry state of most of the workers who worked in Wainganga Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana, he said, “There were 240 permanent workers, 240 seasonable workers (those who were hired only during crop season) and about 100 daily wagers in the sugar mill. All of these were from Gondia, Sakoli, Mohadi and entire Bhandara district. After the selloff, all of them faced acute hardships for their survival. Some even passed away while some are working in the Purti group, which took over the mill, at much lower pay than what we used to get. Even I was offered a meager pay of Rs 4000 for a month whereas earlier I used to get much higher than this.”

He alleged, “It was only because of this harassment and pressure, Gajanan Rao Rambhad who served as the president of the mill for more than a decade passed away after he suffered mental stroke.”

No one to fend for 600 jobless workers of Wainganga Sakhar mill; Case still on

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News:

Equaling the quantum of scam to the likes of Adarsh Society Housing scam in Mumbai, another scam much sensitive than this has come to light in Nagpur. In a startling revelation, it surfaced that city’s renowned Orange City Hospital and Research Institute located on Khamla square has been illegally built on the piece of land still owned by the government. A 7/12 record of the said land, a copy of which is with Nagpur Today clearly showed there was no sale or purchase of this land to any party, individual or commercial, and that this piece of land is still owned by the government. Surprisingly, the matter had been brought to the knowledge of state ministry which reportedly ordered the demolition of Orange City Hospital building back in 2007, but the action is yet to be initiated. At that time action was also taken against a surveyor named Bhujade and a concerned officer as the goof up surfaced. Since then, the matter is still pending with state ministry.

Sources revealed that the concerned file has been sent to the divisional commissioner’s office to seek action in this regard. The date for arriving at the solution was even fixed as December 7, 2013. However no update has yet come from the divisional commissioner.

The land in question is on khasra no. 35 of NIT sanctioned plan, out of which 25 plots were sanctioned long back during the British regime. The British Commissioner of Raipur (Nagpur then comes under CP and Berar state), while sanctioning these plots in the year 1943 had also issued a letter that plot no 1, 2 and 3 were not to be auctioned for 3 years. Later there was no change made in the order and it remained static because these plots are situated in low lying area, sources informed. Currently the Orange City Hospital building stands on plot no. 1 and 2, which were not meant to be used for any erection.

The same plot 1 and 2 were registered in the name of one Yadav in the city survey office no.3. Later, these plots were purchased by the Orange City Hospital which somehow managed to get his name in city survey sheet allegedly in connivance with the officials. This was done in clear violation of the previously sanctioned plan.

Later when the goof up came to light, an inquiry was initiated into the matter, following which the name of Orange City Hospital was removed from the city survey office no. 3 and subsequent action was taken on the surveyor named Bhujade and an officer concerned.

Who sold plot to Orange City Hospital?

A copy of 7/12 of the land drawn on December 10, 2013 clearly shows the land still belongs to the government and that no sale or purchase was officially done. This raises suspicion over who sold the plot to Orange City Hospital when the record says it is still not sold to anyone.

NMC Commissioner Shyam Wardhane, when inquired in this regard, states that since the land belongs to the government it is the matter pertaining to the collector and not the NMC. “Civic body only looks after providing amenities whereas the allotment of land is done by the collector. This part falls under his jurisdiction,” Wardhane said.

Despite many efforts made to contact District Collector Saurabh Rao to have his say in this regard, he remained unreachable.

::: Ravikant Kamble ( mail to : news@nagpurtoday.in ) 

Orange City Hospital illegally built on reserved land, 7/12 record shows it’s still not sold!!!

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has issued show cause notices to the State Government and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) over a petition filed against Rajkamal Resorts in Khindsi, Ramtek for possessing the land beyond the lease period. It is alleged that the lease limit of Rajkamal Resorts ended on November 5, this year.

Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Justice Atul Chadurkar in their show cause notice issued on November 23, 2013 have asked the respondents to file their reply till December 23, 2013. The petition was filed by Prashant Kimmatkar at the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court here after he unearthed this fact under Right to Information Act (RTI). Kimmatkar said that Rajkamal Resort was given to the resort administration on lease till November 5. However, neither the State Government nor the Tourism department took the resort under their possession after the lease ended.

The petitioner claimed that the resort is being run illegally by the private party since the lease date has ended. But no heed was paid by the authorities concerned.

Violation of MTDC rules

According to the petitioner, as per MTDC rules, the land given on lease is taken into possession soon after the lease ends. But, no such action was taken in this case. The petition adds that MTDC had given contract to Chandrapal Chouksey in 1992 on lease for the period of five years. However, the lease ended in 1997 and without opening tenders, the contract was given to Chandrapal Chouksey which was against MTDC rules. The petition alleged that as per MTDC norms, it is necessary to open tenders to issue contracts; however, MTDC has clearly violated the rules by giving contract to the same contractor since 1992. He also mentioned that this has incurred huge loss to the revenue department.

30 years lease being broken in parts, claim Chouksey

Nagpur Today spoke to Chandrapal Chouksey who runs the resort in this regard. He claimed that Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation had leased out the resort for 30 years. But due to some technical problems, the resort could not be leased out for 30 years at a stretch. So it is leased for 5 years at a time and renewed after 5 years. He claimed that 20 years have already gone and that he has already applied for renewal of the lease. He also added that this time he has requested that the lease be extended for a period of 10 years.

He claimed that tourism was initiated and developed in the region only because of his efforts. He claimed that it was because of his efforts that tourism developed in Totladoh in Ramtek, Khindsi in Ramtek, Ambazhari in Nagpur, Junona in Chandrapur, Mahan in Akola, Ghodazari in Chandrapur, Ramdham along with Nature Park & Resort in Mansar. Chouksey said that this resulted in generation of employment, stimulation of local economy and promotion of the idea of eco-tourism and environmental conservation.

He said that his name is registered in Limca Book of records in 2008 and 2011. He has also been awarded Paryatak Mitra repeatedly 3 times for promoting tourism activity in Vidarbha. He has also been awarded with various other awards like noble son of Ramtek, Netaji Subhashchandra Bose National Award. He has been awarded with Magnum award for providing boats for flood relief and developing tourism in Vidarbha.

Kimmatkar is a blackmailer, alleges Chouksey

While clarifying that the lease process and official formalities are on, he even spoke out against Kimmatkar who moved court against him. Chouksey even went on to call him a blackmailer, alleging that Kimmatkar has many cases registered against him in Ramtek police station. He also showed a thick government file with the name Kimmatkar written on top of it saying that this is the police file of Kimmatkar that he procured from the Ramtek police station.

Chouksey managed higher authorities, retorts Kimmatkar

When Nagpur Today spoke to Prashant Kimmatkar, he said that based on his petition only the High Court has initiated action against Chouksey. He said that only due to his underhand dealings and bribes to higher authorities, Chouksey was able to get the lease extended without anybody else to compete for the lease.

Kimmatkar informed that based on his petition, the Joint Director of MTDC Satish Soni had issued instructions to Nagpur based MTDC official Hanumant Hede on July 8, 2013 to take the resort into his custody and to place a security personnel therein. Hanumant Hede had in-turn forwarded this letter to Chouksey about the lapse of lease of Rajkamal Resorts.

Cottages made without permission

Kimmatkar went on to report that Chouksey had without any permission from MTDC, renovated the staff quarters and turned it into cottages and is leasing them too and minting money in the bargain. He said that the money earned from these cottages never reached the MTDC.

According to Kimmatkar, since the lease ended in July 2013, the sum of money earned from July to December should be deposited to MTDC which is not being done till date.

Officer returned empty handed

Nagpur Today met Senior Regional Officer of MTDC Hanumant Hede. He said that he along with a few officials had gone to Rajkamal Resorts to take possession of the resort but Chouksey’s brother who was running the resort refused to hand over the resort to MTDC. It is alleged that he said that the process and formalities of the extension or renewal of the lease is already on so they will not handover the property to MTDC as yet. Hanumant Hede in turn informed the head office about the refusal of Chouksey to handover the resort.

The entire blame game was reportedly the result of political rivalry between Congress and NCP activists. All the opposing members are trying to malign the image of the other to prove their innocence. 

::: Samuel Gunesekharan ( mail t0: news@nagpurtoday.in )

File Pic

Chouksey in a soup for running resort in Ramtek without lease; HC issues notices to State Govt, MTDC

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur News.

The illegal construction of Orange City Hospital and Research Institute (OCHRI) on government land has a big fat connection with higher-ups in the department which allegedly displayed ignorance over the big blunder. A spate of irregularities in sanctioning process has resulted into the hospital administration moving scot free, thanks to its political connection. Nagpur Today has duly exposed how the 7/12 records of the said layout of Khasra no. 35 shows that plot 1 and 2, on which OCHRI building stands, were never sold to anybody and it was still government land.

A DP plan, a copy of which is with Nagpur Today ( see below), clearly shows the road approaching from the layout where the building of Orange City Hospital now stands.  The red part in the image shown indicates the missing road because now the OCHRI building sits on it.

The proposed West High Court was to pass through the part of layout where the building stands. The exact location of this road is where the main gate of the hospital is erected and then approaches through the hospital premises. However, the hospital authorities have certainly made it a point not to give a damn to media reports in this regard.

When Nagpur Today quizzed Arun Nair, Director (Estate) at Orange City hospital he only showed his thick skin towards the issue and was rest assured that nothing can affect their murky affairs. “We are not responsible for answering media or citizens in this regard. If any official inquiry comes to us from the government we will reply to it.” Nair was asked that if the record shows the land still belong to government, then from whom they purchased the land? In his social media update, Nair had claimed that the said land was purchased in 1997 but he did not mention the name of the seller. This has raised suspicion over the role of NIT and NMC officials in the matter.

                          Also Read :  Orange City Hospital illegally built on reserved land

Owner calls media blackmailer

Uday Bhaskar Nair, owner of OCHRI did not even bother to clarify his stand and went to call media blackmailer. “I did not want to talk to anyone. The media is blackmailer”, he said and hanged up.

Meanwhile various political leaders have questioned the role of sanctioning authority in this matter. They have strongly reacted to the goof up by the hospital authorities in erecting the building without due permission and also encroaching the land meant for constructing road.

Expressing shock over the alleged goof up by OCHRI, Nagpur MP and senior Congress leader Vilas Muttemwar said such massive irregularities are committed while the officials turn ignorant over this. “If a common man commits any such act, he is put behind the bars but no action is taken against such resourceful people. This practice is certainly wrong. We truly condemn such acts and demand action against such resourceful people operating on their whims,” Muttemwar told Nagpur Today.

Leader of opposition in NMC and senior Congress leader Vikas Thakre said the matter is very serious as it amounts to enormous violation of the laws. “Not only the hospital authorities should be put to inquiry, action should also be taken against the NIT and NMC officials who have allegedly given permission despite the fact that it’s still government land.

“If it is a government land how come a private hospital is built on that? We will get certainly get the question raised in the assembly”, says Thakre

Sources said that the hospital authorities had ditched many inquiries in the past as they enjoy the privilege of proximity with a senior BJP leader of national stature in the city. When Nagpur Today quizzed many of the BJP leaders, they however criticized the act but could not speak anything openly.

BJP MLA Krishna Khopde said though it was matter of due probe, the MLA or other public representatives of that area should look into that. BJP MLA Sudhakar Deshmukh said, “I will have to look through the papers before I come down to any conclusion.”  Another BJP leader Vikas Kumbhare too came up with similar reply. “I will go through the entire matter first and then only I will be able to comment anything on that”, he told Nagpur Today.

Nagpur Today view

One must agree that the hospital administration has certainly overlooked the law and violated the finer boundaries set by the system. No doubt the hospital authorities could not do anything unless it got the support of conniving officials. This not only breaks trust of people on the reputation of hospital but also puts under suspicion the practice being followed by the hospital behind the scene. We believe that law should be equal to all and if the hospital authorities are guilty they should be certainly brought to the consideration of law, which must send strong message to those who influence authorities and encourage corruption in the government departments. This will also let citizens to retain their faith in rule book.

:: Ravikant Kamble ( mail to : news@nagpurtoday.in )

OCHRI gulps land sanctioned for road; Politicos question role of officials, Hospital authority