Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rashmi Karandikar, 51, is in the midst of a maelstrom of legal disputes, with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police investigating two First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against her husband Purushottam Chavan, 53, in January and February, 2025, for his alleged role in defrauding six people of ₹7.42 crore on the promise of securing for them government plots at cheap rates and giving them the contract to supply T-shirts and hoodies to Nashik Police Academy between 2015 and 2024. In another instance, he had also promised 19 individuals cheap flats through various government schemes between 2019 to 2014 – he had collected funds to the tune of ₹24.78 crore from them.
The cases unravelled in May 20, 2024, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched Chavan’s residence in Colaba for a money laundering probe related to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) refunds worth ₹263.95 crore from the Income Tax (I-T) department.
“When ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and carried out searches at their Colaba residence, the agency had found several documents and agreements, which were forwarded by them to the EOW, which in turn registered the two FIRs based on the documents,” said a police officer investigating the case.
In the twin cases of alleged promise of land parcels and homes, police have now summoned Karandikar’s driver, house guards and house orderlies to record their statements. The EOW has secured Chavan’s custody on remand up to June 24 on Thursday; and though Karandikar is not named in any of the FIRs, police are investigating financial transactions through her bank accounts and have written to the Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla, to ascertain if she had declared the transactions as part of her assets.
Karandikar and Chavan’s paths converged in 2004 at an institute that mentored civil services aspirants for competitive exams. Karandikar was preparing to take the exams after completing a PhD in Sociology; she had a BSc in Statistics from University of Mumbai followed by MA in Sociology and Anthropology earlier, said a police officer, who is in the know of things. She had earlier cleared an examination for a desk officer’s post under Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC).
The officer however could not furnish details about Chavan’s background, except for the fact that like Karandikar, he also grew up in western Maharashtra between Mumbai and Pune.
The couple wed a year after they met in 2005.
Subsequently, while Karandikar joined the services, her husband dropped the idea of serving the government and joined a financial broker with whom he went on to work for several years. “He made a handsome living,” said the police officer, adding that the couple has no children.
As a state-cadre police officer, she has worked in highway traffic police, as a deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in the Cyber-crime division and as DCP Port Zone. She is presently DCP, Civil Defence.
Through her time in the department, Karandikar is known to have solved many notable cases. The Bulli Bai case of 2022 was one, where the accused were arrested for posting photographs of Muslim women, including well-known personalities, activists and professionals, on an app called Bulli Bai where they were declared available for “auction.” She was also instrumental in solving a Nigerian job fraud and Pradhan Mantri Yojna loan fraud cases during her tenure as DCP, Cyber-crime.
She is now in a legal wrangle because of her husband’s alleged misdeeds.
Insiders in the police department said, while he chose to drop out of the civil services race, Chavan did not think twice of artfully using his wife’s position to carry out his businesses. He used his Karandikar’s official vehicle – a Maruti Suzuki Ertiga – when he showed aspiring investors plots under the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA). He would be driven by her official driver, while a uniformed constable accompanied him in the vehicle. He struck a deal for a batch of T-shirts with prospective businessmen in the presence of Karandikar at her official residence in Colaba, thereby winning their confidence, said an investigating officer. Chavan had also claimed that his wife was a member of the visiting faculty at the academy.
“We have arrested Chavan in the second case registered against him and have got his police custody till June 24,” said a police officer aware of the investigation.
Sources in the department said that Karandikar, who was also questioned by the EOW, purportedly filed for divorce from her husband after his arrest, citing mental cruelty and financial harassment, and for concealing his business activities.
EOW officers told HT that they have found transactions by which Karandikar had received ₹2.64 crore in her bank account from the account of her husband, who had made several foreign trips and who is also being investigated by the ED for money laundering charges.
“We have written to the DGP’s office to check if she has declared the banking transactions in her assets disclosure, and are awaiting a response,” said the EOW officer, adding if they find her guilty of doing so, they may refer the case to the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
“The probe is at a nascent stage now,” the officer added.