Order 200826aba749.26 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR. CRIMINAL APPLICATION [ABA] NO. 749 OF 2026. Sagar Sunil Tayade -VERSUS- State of Maharashtra. Office notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders Court’s or Judge’s Orders or directions and Registrar’s orders. Shri A.V. Kamawat, Advocate for the Applicant. Ms S.N. Thakur, A.P.P. for the Non-applicant/State. CORAM : M.M. NERLIKAR, J. DATE : AUGUST 20, 2026. Heard. 2. Apprehending his arrest in Crime No.252/2026 registered with Malkapur City Police Station, District Buldhana for the offences punishable under Sections 132, 121[2], 109[1], 318[4], 61[2], 189[2], 191[2], 191[3], 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), Sections 4, 7 and 25 of the Arms Act, Section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act and Section 66[D] of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the applicant is seeking pre-arrest bail. 3. Taking cognizance of social media posts claiming Rgd. 2026:BHC-NAG:11139 Order 200826aba749.26 2 handsome returns on money, a raid was conducted by police party, while apprehending the accused persons, they were attacked by the accused persons. The present applicant fled from the spot in Thar car. During raid, fake currency note bundles were seized, wherein the first and last note was real and rest were fake children bank notes. Hence, the report. 4. The learned Counsel appearing for the applicant submits that the applicant was not present on the spot, and the Thar Car mentioned in the first information report, was in the garage, so also the CDR along with the charge sheet shows location of the applicant at some other place i.e. Lonewadi, which is 15 kms away from the spot of incident. He submits that even if the allegations are taken as it is, no overt act has been shown in the entire episode, which took place on 06.04.2026. It is submitted that the applicant is not involved in the crime, the phone numbers mentioned in the first information report belong to accused no.6, and not to the applicant. Therefore, since the applicant is not involved in the crime, he be granted anticipatory bail. 5. On the other hand the learned A.P.P. vehemently opposes the application and submits that a racket was active in Rgd. Order 200826aba749.26 3 Malkapur, which induced people by posting reels/stories on facebook and instagram of investing an amount of Rs.1 lakh with them, and in return they would be paid Rs.10 lakhs, and on investing Rs.50,000/- they would get Rs.5 lakhs in return. When this was noticed by the police officials, they conducted investigation into the said aspect, secret informers were activated, and a phone number reflected in the ID was traced out. When contacted on said phone number continuously for two days, accused no.6 responded, who asked the informer to pay Rs.1 lakh for which they will return him Rs.10 lakhs. Accordingly on 06.04.2026, a trap was led. At that time 4 persons, on 2 scooters and applicant in Thar car arrived on the spot. When the police officials tried to apprehend them, they tried to flee away and also inflicted blows with the help of knife on police, in which one police officer was seriously injured. She further submits that somehow they were caught and currency bundles were recovered from 4 accused persons. On scrutiny of those bundles, it was found that the first note and last note in those bundles were having real Rs.500/- currency notes, while rest of the notes were of children’s bank. In such circumstances, she submitted that so far as the applicant is concerned, he used Thar car in commission Rgd. Order 200826aba749.26 4 of the crime, and not only that all the accused persons assaulted the police officials. The applicant was successful in fleeing away from the spot. Since the offence is of serious nature, the plea of alibi cannot be considered at this stage, and therefore, the application filed by the applicant is liable to be rejected, so also since custody of the applicant is very much required so as to burst the entire racket of money scam, on that ground also the application is liable to be rejected. 6. I have heard the learned Counsel for the parties and gone through the first information report and charge sheet. It appears that the applicant and others are inducing people via social media to invest money with them and in turn they will return exorbitant amount. Accordingly police officials, under cover of a person interested in investing the amount, contacted one of the accused, wherein he agreed to pay Rs.10 lakhs on payment of Rs.1 lakh. Accordingly on 06.04.2026 on the spot, the trap was led, where 4 members on two scooters and the applicant in Thar car came along with the money which they showed to the undercover police officials, however, as the police officials tried to apprehend them, during raid they inflicted blows with the help of knife on the police officials. 4 persons were Rgd. Order 200826aba749.26 5 caught on the spot itself, and note bundles were seized from them. Contents of first information report shows that those bundles were having first and last note as genuine currency note, and between them all the notes were from children’s bank, resembling rest as genuine notes. From the above, it appears that the applicant and other co-accused are duping persons by inducing them on social media with manifold returns on investment of small amount. It is further to be noted that the Thar car which was used in the commission of crime is of the present applicant, and he was in the said car. It is further to be noted that the accused persons, those who were apprehended, have disclosed name of the present applicant. In such circumstances, there is more than sufficient material against the applicant, however, it appears that the applicant is avoiding arrest. In my opinion, custody interrogation of applicant is very much necessary in order to burst the entire racket of money scam. In view of above discussion, the application for grant of anticipatory bail is rejected. JUDGE Rgd. Signed by: R.G. Dhuriya (RGD) Designation: Senior Pvt. Secretary Date: 27/08/2026 15:26:26