Maharashtra: 2 Firm Partners Charged with Rs. 12 Crore of Online Booking Fraud at the Tiger Reserve

Two brothers who own a business that received a contract to handle online reservations for the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district have been charged with engaging in irregularities totaling more than Rs 12 crore, according to the police.

According to the accused, a charge of cheating was filed against the Chandrapur City residents on Friday at the Ramnagar police station. The accused are brothers named Abhishek and Rohit Vinodkumar Thakur. Divisional Forest Officer Sachin Shinde filed the charge against the pair, whose partnership company, Chandrapur Wild Connectivity Solution, was tasked with handling online reservations, according to a statement released by the district Superintendent of Police (SP) office.

“For the last several years, the accused brothers have run online reservations at the TATR. But lately it was discovered that the accused allegedly failed to pay Rs 12,15,50,831 to the administration of the tiger reserve,” it stated.

It was discovered that they neglected to pay the requisite sum to the TATR, according to a senior officer with the forest department. During a normal audit, their inconsistency was discovered. They refused to provide payment information when the authorities asked them for explanation. They also didn’t work with the authorities.

Following that, the TATR management canceled the firm’s services last week and selected a new company to handle online reservations, according to him. According to the police, a thorough examination for the fiscal years 2020–2021 to 2023–2024 revealed that the company owed the administration of the tiger reserve Rs 22,80,67,749. The payment of Rs 12,15,50,831 was not made; instead, it only paid Rs 10,65,16,919.

They claim that the accused stole the money and broke the terms of the agreement. The accused pair were charged with an offense under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust), according to the police, who also said that the matter is now under investigation. The biggest tiger reserve in Maharashtra is reportedly TATR. The easternmost region of the state is where Chandrapur district is situated.