Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
The case of a fake woman IAS officer, Kalpana Bhagwat, has now widened. After cheating a former vice-chancellor and former director of higher education, she is now found to have duped Hingoli’s Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Nagesh Aastikar. By citing reasons such as donations needed for temple construction or financial difficulties after her father’s death, she allegedly collected about Rs 1.45 lakh from him. However, Kalpana claims, “I consider Nagesh as a brother. I did not ask for money; he gave it on his own.”
After claiming to be an IAS officer during a meeting in Pune, Kalpana convinced Dr Shahabuddin Nasiruddin Pathan former vice-chancellor and former director of higher education of Nagpur University to felicitate her. She also extracted Rs 80,000 from him. Dr Pathan gave this statement during his deposition on Tuesday night.
Investigations have now revealed that Kalpana was also in touch with MP Aastikar. She had collected a total of Rs 19 lakh from nine individuals. Among these, Rs 1.45 lakh was taken from Aastikar. Those who had interacted with her are now undergoing detailed questioning. Since Dr Pathan recorded his statement at Thane, it is likely that Aastikar may also be called to record his statement.
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Met through a relative; she said she was an IAS trainee: MP Aastikar
MP Nagesh Aastikar, clarifying his stance, said:
“The amount being mentioned is not accurate. I met Kalpana through a relative. She claimed to be a disciple of Ram Bhadracharya Maharaj and even showed a video. She asked for money for temple construction and visited Bhokar for this. Later, she said she was an IAS officer undergoing training. Citing her father’s death, she requested financial help until she got her job. Once, she even asked for money saying her house rent was overdue. But the amount she is mentioning is not correct.”
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Kalpana (Neha) speaks for the first time after arrest: ‘All allegations are false; I am not such a big person’
Kalpana was arrested on 23 November from a hotel on Jalna Road. Since then, she has been in police custody and has faced serious allegations. Her links with Mohammad Ashraf Gil (24), an Afghan national and her boyfriend, brought her under central investigative radar. She is currently being interrogated thoroughly.
On Wednesday, she was brought from Kranti Chowk police station lockup to CIDCO police station for further questioning. Seeing media personnel outside, she spoke for the first time and denied all allegations. Kalpana (Neha) responded to the allegations, saying they are yet to be proved and that she will hold a press conference to explain everything after getting bail. She denied taking money for Padma Shri awards or transfers, stating she hasn’t done anything wrong. Regarding the cheques worth Rs 19 crore, she said she never received them physically and only printed a WhatsApp image. She also denied taking any money from MP Aastikar, calling him like a brother. On leaders giving her money, she avoided commenting, saying Ramesh Mule is close to Anna Dattatray Shete. She said she does not know Dimpy and described Ashraf as her friend from Afghanistan.