FIR states that Amit Lodha acquired movable and immovable properties over and above his legal source of income.
The First Information Report (FIR) filed by Special Vigilance Unit against Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1998 batch from Bihar cadre, Amit Lodha, has alleged that he was not “an established story writer”, neither was he authorized nor permitted to write a book and to use the same for commercial purpose.
Lodha had gained fame after Netflix, video streaming platform, recently released a web-series that is based on his professional life which he had detailed in a book authored by him. The FIR, which was filed on 7 December, has further alleged that to “earn illicitly and to turn the black money into white, he used a book written by him named ‘Bihar Diary’ for a production of a web-series named ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’ by resorting to illegal activities”. The said series was released on Netflix on 25 November.
It further alleges that a company called “Friday Story Teller Private Limited” has produced this web-series and the reported cost of producing it was Rs 64 crore, the expenditure which was incurred by another company, Los Gatos Production Service India, which is a subsidiary of Netflix, a US listed company.
Friday Story Teller Private Limited is a Mumbai-based company owned by Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia. Pandey is a well-known Bollywood movie director, while Bhatia is a movie producer. The FIR states that Lodha and the Friday Story Teller Private Limited company signed an acquisition agreement in November 2018 for Re 1 only; however, the Vigilance unit found that the accused (Lodha) received Rs 12,372 in his account from the said company on August 2021. It further alleges, “A ‘Life-story-rights’ agreement was signed between the production house and Lodha’s wife to facilitate the transaction of illicitly acquired wealth from one account to the account of Lodha’s wife.”
A life-story-right agreement allows the producer to fictionalize the life events of the individual in question. As per the FIR, multiple transactions happened between the Friday Story Teller company and Lodha’s wife in which a total amount of Rs 49,62,300 was transferred to Lodha’s wife’s account. According to the FIR, Lodha being a public servant, illegally entered into trade or commercial activities with a production house and others and illicitly earned the said amount till date by corrupt and illegal means, which he cannot justify as a public servant.
The FIR, based on scrutiny done by Vigilance sleuths, states that Lodha has acquired huge amount of movable and immovable properties which is over and above his legal source of income. Lodha, who was suspended on Friday, was posted as Inspector General, Magadh Range, Bihar. He has been booked under Section 12, 13 (1B), 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act and 120 (B) (Criminal conspiracy) and 168 (Public servant unlawfully engaging in trade) of the Indian Penal Code.
Lodha, on the day the FIR was filed, tweeted: “Sometimes life can throw you the most difficult challenges, particularly when you are right. It’s during these times your strength of character is reflected. Need your prayers and support to come out victorious.”