District judge forwards plaint against APP to govt department in Maharashtra

NAGPUR: The office of the principle district judge (PDJ), after receiving a complaint from Niranjan Nirmal’s father against an additional public prosecutor (APP), has forwarded the documents to the court’s technical wing on Thursday. The technical wing is likely to refer the matter to the directorate of prosecution on Friday.
Niranjan, his father Raosaheb, sister Usha and wife Pritam have been booked for duping the APP and her late husband to the tune of Rs 2.25 crore. The APP and her husband had paid Rs s2.45 crore in cash to Niranjan but he had returned Rs 20 lakh.
The offence was registered at Bajaj Nagar police station on February 20 but Niranjan is missing since February 13. Niranjan’s father had lodged a missing complaint at Vavi police station of Nashik rural on February 16.
The offence registered against Niranjan in Nagpur is learnt to be the fourth one against him in Maharashtra. He had offence of accident registered in 2010 at Ahmednagar. Another offence of cheating, rioting and extortion was registered at Pune Cantonment in 2015, and one for cheque bounce in 2018 was registered in Ahmednagar. Though the APP’s FIR claimed the Nirmal family had duped her and her husband by promising lucrative returns, a stamp paper document claims the APP had paid the entire amount in cash with no reason being mentioned. The document also mentions a post-dated cheque given as security to the APP by Niranjan against the amount received by him.
A copy of the stamp paper mentioning the amount handed over to Niranjan by the APP was among the documents sent to the PDJ along with a copy of the missing complaint, a suicide message sent to his father in Marathi from Niranjan’s cell phone, and a formal complaint letter against the APP. Niranjan’s cellphone was switched off near the shrine of a high-profile astrologer near Nashik. The cops are yet to find the last man, Piyush, with whom Niranjan had spoken. TOI has received audio clips in which Niranjan can be heard saying he was being harassed. His father’s audio clip reveal the involvement of a politically connected astrologer named Captain Sir.
These clips too have been forwarded to senior police officials. The court and bar rooms were abuzz on Thursday after the media published details about the alleged fraud. There was debate over the Rs 2.45 crore allegedly paid in cash by the APP and her late husband, with many speculating about the source of such substantial amount. There was also speculation about the whereabouts of Niranjan, and