A magisterial court in Pune on Monday remanded Sheetal Tejwani, the power of attorney holder in a major alleged land fraud case, to 14 days in judicial custody. This order followed a recommendation by the Pune police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) after her custodial interrogation from December 4 to December 15.
The Core Allegation: Illegal Sale of Government Land
The case revolves around the alleged illegal sale of a 40-acre government land parcel in Mundhwa. The fraud is said to have originated from two illegal orders passed by the now-suspended Pune city tehsildar, Suryakant Yeole. These orders granted ownership rights of government lands in Mundhwa and Bopodi to private parties.
Following the court order, Tejwani was sent to the Yerawada central prison. The case is officially registered at the Khadak police station.
New Plea for Custody in Linked Stamp Duty Case
In a parallel development, the Bavdhan police, under the Pimpri Chinchwad police commissionerate, is set to move a plea on Tuesday. They will seek Tejwani's custodial remand in connection with a separate but linked stamp duty waiver case.
This case is connected to the registration of the Mundhwa land sale deed on May 20 between Tejwani and Amadea Enterprises LLP. Notably, Parth Pawar, son of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is one of the two partners in this LLP. The government alleges this registration caused a revenue loss of Rs 6 crore to the state exchequer.
While Parth Pawar has not been named in the FIRs, the other partner of Amadea, Digvijay Patil, has been named. Patil, a signatory to the sale deed, is named alongside Tejwani in both FIRs filed by the Khadak and Bavdhan police.
Pimpri Chinchwad's Deputy Commissioner of Police, Vishal Gaikwad, confirmed the plan to seek custody, stating, "We will seek Tejwani's custody from the court on Tuesday." He also revealed that the Bavdhan police recorded Digvijay Patil's statement on Monday.
Details from the Police Remand Report
Earlier on Monday, EOW Assistant Commissioner Dattatraya Waghmare and his team produced Tejwani before the court. The remand report, submitted by public prosecutor Amit Yadav, provided key insights.
It stated that during interrogation, Tejwani was questioned in detail about the involvement of other individuals in the crime and the exchange of the Rs 300 crore declared as consideration for the land. However, the report noted that Tejwani did not provide any information on these crucial points to the interrogators.
The police also conducted searches at her residences in Koregaon Park and Pimpri in the presence of independent witnesses. No documents related to the land deal were found.
Initially, Tejwani was uncooperative regarding handing over the original Power of Attorney document executed in her name by the heirs of the original 'watandars' and the original sale deed copy. The land in question was originally Mahar Watan land, later taken over by the government and leased to the Botanical Survey of India until 2038.
After sustained interrogation, she eventually instructed her lawyer to hand over these original documents to the police, as per the remand report.
The investigation continues as authorities probe deeper into the multi-crore scam involving prime government land and the complex web of transactions and official lapses that facilitated it.
