‘Mushroom Girl’ arrested for fraud alleged by Pune businessman

Uttarakhand brand ambassador for mushroom farming and a Nari Shakti awardee, Divya Rawat, was arrested in Pune along with her brother Rajpal Rawat in a case of alleged fraud registered against her by a Pune-based businessman.

Rawat, who is popularly known as ‘mushroom girl’, and her brother were arrested on Feb 9 after the businessman, identified as Jitendra Bhakra, alleged that Rawat after taking his services for a project, refused to make the payment and instead got him booked in a false fraud case in Dehradun, police said.

A senior police officer said that Rawat had told him that she was about to launch a new fitness product for which she was planning a showroom in Dehradun. Bhakra agreed to build the showroom for her. After completing the project, he handed her a bill of over Rs 1 cr. However, Rawat told him that she would pay only Rs 57 lakh.

The officer further said that on demanding the amount, Rawat threatened to get him booked in a false case. Later, she got a fraud case filed in Dehradun in 2022 with a fake affidavit in which Bhakra was arrested only to be later released on bail.

The officer added that hence, Bhakra after returning to Pune, lodged a complaint against her. Rawat and her brother contacted him to settle the case in Dehradun for Rs 32 lakh. Bhakra told them that he would pay Rs 10 lakh and they can collect the draft for the amount in Pune. On Feb 9, when the duo arrived in Pune to meet Bhakra, they were arrested.

The duo was produced before the local court in Pune which sent them to police custody for two days.