MUMBAI, June 21 -- 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 Rs.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 Rs.24.78 crore from them. The cases unravelled in May 20, 2024, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched Chavan's residence in Colaba for alleged fraudulent withdrawal of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) refunds worth Rs.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. Police have 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. The couple wed a year after they met in 2005. Subsequently, while Karandikar joined the services, her husband joined a financial broker with whom he went on to work for several years. "Karandikar is known to have solved many notable cases. such as the 2022 Bulli Bai case where the accused were arrested for posting photographs of Muslim women 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. "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 Rs.2.64 crore in her bank account from the account of her husband. "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....