Nagpur: In a significant breakthrough, Sadar Police exposed a well-planned conspiracy involving planted fake evidence and cheque theft to frame a city-based restaurant owner in a false case. The accused, upset over non-payment for renovation work, forged documents and planted counterfeit government rubber stamps to implicate the owner in a criminal offense.
Acting on a reliable tip-off, Sadar Police raided the kitchen and office premises of ‘Navratna Raghav’ hotel located on Mount Road on April 4 around 6:40 pm. During the search, they seized 21 fake government rubber stamps, a laptop (HP brand), and several documents from the possession of Akshay Ashwin Limbna (39), a resident of Mount Road, Sadar. He was initially booked and arrested under Sections 341(1) and 341(2) of the BNS for possessing and using forged official stamps with the intent to deceive.
However, during further investigation, Limbna submitted a written complaint stating that multiple cheques belonging to various bank accounts had been stolen from his office and attempts were made to encash them fraudulently. Acting on this, the police conducted a technical probe and detained one suspect — Sattar Qutubuddin Ansari (42), a resident of Bhande Plot, Umred Road.
Contractor admits to conspiracy:
During interrogation, Sattar confessed that he had carried out renovation work at Akshay Limbna’s hotel but did not receive full payment. Enraged, he conspired with an associate, Pankaj Rahangdale (30), a resident of Jagdish Nagar, Katol Road, to frame Limbna. The duo placed fake rubber stamps in the restaurant’s kitchen and also stole cheques from the owner’s office, attempting to forge his signature and encash them at the bank.
The investigation revealed that the accused deliberately created false evidence to trap the hotel owner. Based on these findings, additional sections — 318(4), 61(2), 229(2), 336(3), 340(2), and 303(2) of the BNS — have been added to the case. Efforts are underway to locate and apprehend Pankaj Rahangdale.
Operation led by senior police officials:
This operation was carried out under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 2) Rahul Madane and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Sadar Division) Sunita Meshram. The team comprised PI Manish Thakare, API Manisha Varsha, PSI Sandeep Jadhav, PSI Santosh Shirdole, and constables Sunil Raut and Pralesh Kapse.
Further investigations are ongoing.
