Representative image depicting fraud.
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A case has been filed against two brothers operating a firm that was given a contract for online booking of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, after it came to light that they allegedly indulged in irregularities worth more than Rs 12 crore, police said.
The accused duo, Abhishek Vinodkumar Thakur and Rohit Vinodkumar Thakur, are residents of Chandrapur city, and a case of cheating was registered against them at Ramnagar police station on Friday, they said.
The complaint was lodged by Divisional Forest Officer Sachin Shinde against the duo, whose partnership firm - Chandrapur Wild Connectivity Solution - was given the task of online booking, a statement issued by the district Superintendent of Police (SP) office said.
"The accused brothers have been operating online bookings at the TATR since the past few years. However, recently it came to light that the accused allegedly did not pay Rs 12,15,50,831 to the tiger reserve's management," it said.
A senior forest department official said, "It was found that they did not pay the required amount to the TATR. Their irregularity came to light during a routine audit. When the authorities sought clarification from them, they failed to furnish details of payments. Also, they did not cooperate with the officials."
After that, the TATR management last week terminated their firm's services and appointed a new agency for online booking, he said.
According to the police, a detailed audit was conducted for the years 2020-21 to 2023-24, in which it was found that the firm was supposed to pay Rs 22,80,67,749 to the tiger reserve management. However, it paid only Rs 10,65,16,918, but did not make the payment of Rs 12,15,50,831.
The accused violated the terms and conditions of the agreement and embezzled the amount, they said.
An offence under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) was registered against the accused duo and investigation into the case is on, the police added.
TATR is said to be the largest tiger reserve in Maharashtra. Chandrapur district is located in eastern parts of the state.