Pune: Police Inspector Girish Sonawane gets Union Home Minister Vigilance Gold Medal for Best Investigation

Pune: Police Inspector (PI) Girish Sonawane has been awarded this year’s Union Home Minister Vigilance Gold Medal for Best Investigation into the Rs 500-crore disproportionate assets case, which was the biggest such case in the history of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Pune.

The best investigations done by the NIA, the CBI and the State Police Departments are sought by the Union Home Ministry for awarding the Union Home Minister Vigilance Gold Medal. Maharashtra gets 11 awards among them. PI Sonawane’s probe into the case has been found to be the best.

The investigation into Rs 500-crore DA case related to Town Planning suspended Joint Director Hanumant Nazirkar was the biggest such case in the history of the ACB. PI Girish Sonawane filed the first charge sheet within eight months. Statements of over 100 witnesses were recorded. The charge sheet had around 40,000 pages.

The investigation into the matter continues even today. Nazirkar’s 20 benami properties were detected initially. Later, more such properties were found. Value of his assets has been found to be 1,162 per cent more than his known source of income. He invested money in 38 benami firms. It has been a very complex investigation.

Speaking about the award, PI Girish Sonawane said, “It is the highest award at the Central level. I have got the first rank on merit. I am very pleased that my work has been recognised at the Central level. This encourages one to work hard with determination.”

PI Sonawane worked in the Pune City Police from 2012 to 2019 at the Faraskhana Police Station, the Sinhagad Police Station and the Crime Branch. Later, he was posted in the ACB from 2019 to 2023, where he investigated many cases successfully. One of the cases was the Hanumant Nazirkar DA case. Currently, he is posted in the State Intelligence Department.