Gantawar couple seeks more time to record statement

Nagpur: Dr Praveen Gantawar and his wife Dr Sheelu Chimurkar, medical officers with Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), on Friday reached the State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) office to record their statement but investigation officer was in the court. The couple, booked for Disproportionate Assets (DA) case under Prevention of Corruption Act,1986, is learnt to have sought time from the ACB to furnish their statements.
The court, also on Friday, adjourned the hearing of the plea for confirming the anticipatory bail of the Gantawar couple till July 15. Earlier, the court had allowed ad-interim bail for the couple for one month or till disposal of their anticipatory plea, whichever was earlier.
Sources from ACB said the Gantawar couple was asked to come to ACB office for recording their statement after the offence was registered on July 1 for possessing 43% more wealth (Rs 2.52 crore) than their known sources of income. Dr Praveen, deputy chief medical officer, was present during the search of his locker at a bank last week but they took nine days to turn up for the statement, an ACB source said.
Though two expensive cars and Rs 86,000 cash was found at their residence at Ramdaspeth and another Rs 3.85 lakh at their private hospital in Dhantoli, the locker was found empty much to the surprise of ACB sleuths.
SP, State ACB, Rashmi Nandedkar said the offence was registered on the basis of the calculation of income of the Gantawar couple between February 2007 and December 2015.
“We had sent our proposal to headquarters seeking approval to register an offence against Gantawar couple in April before the lockdown began and received the nod on June 30. We are now calculating the wealth accumulated by the Gantawar couple between 2015 onwards till date,” said Nandedkar.
“We have received information regarding several properties owned or in possession of the couple at different places after the offence was registered against them. They are anonymously sent or shared with us in writing and we can follow it up with thorough probe,” she said.
Nandedkar also stated the couple’s bail plea would be opposed though there was no compulsion of arrest in DA cases. “We will calculate the value of all properties found during the searches and investigations post-FIR. The FIR was based on Rs 2.52 crore excess wealth but now the amount would likely swell,” she said.