Builder’s Suicide Sparks ₹15 Crore Extortion Probe
4 min readMumbaiUpdated: Mar 28, 2026 09:41 PM IST
The Navi Mumbai police on Friday registered an FIR on charges of abetment to suicide and extortion against Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)’s Mumbai Zonal Unit director Amit Ghawate, another NCB officer and a senior inspector of Navi Mumbai police in connection with the suicide of Navi Mumbai-based builder Gurunath Chinchkar.
The FIR was registered based on oral directions by the Bombay High Court, which is hearing a writ petition filed by Chinchkar’s wife Kiran.
Chinchkar, who died by suicide last year by shooting himself at his Belapur residence, was the father of alleged drug syndicate kingpin Naveen Chinchkar, who was deported from Malaysia in May last year and is currently lodged at Taloja prison along with his younger brother. The younger brother Dhiraj too was later deported from Malaysia in August last year in connection with a narcotics case.
Ghawate, who had replaced IRS officer Sameer Wankhede as the Mumbai NCB zonal director in April 2022, oversaw the investigation into Chinchkar brother’s case. The other two accused named in the FIR apart from Ghawate are NCB officer Akash Malik, who had gone to Chinchkar’s residence as part of the probe, and Navi Mumbai police Anti Narcotics Cell senior inspector Sandeep Nigade.
An officer said it was during the hearing of the writ petition on Monday that the Bombay High Court orally asked the Navi Mumbai police to register an offence in the matter. The police summoned Kiran, based on whose statement an FIR was registered against the three.
In her statement, Kiran alleged that Ghawate had demanded Rs 10-15 crore to remove the names of their sons from the FIR and threatened to file a false case against them if the money was not paid. She alleged that he would call them to the NCB office multiple times and make them sit there all day.
She further alleged that Nigade too came to her husband’s office where he started abusing and threatening them to either produce their children before the police or pay money. She alleged that both ANC and NCB called them multiple times and demanded money that put severe strain on him causing him to die by suicide.
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When contacted Ghawate said, “NCB Mumbai has seized cocaine and other drugs from Belapur in January 2025 and filed a complaint in July 2025 under the NDPS Act. Naveen was deported from Malaysia and arrested. In all nine arrests were made. An international syndicate run by Chicnhkar was busted by NCB Mumbai. The financial investigation was done and properties of Chinchkar worth Rs 10.6 crore was freezed, the freezing order was confirmed by SAFEMA Mumbai. ED Mumbai has registered a case based on NCB Mumbai investigation. In the entire proceeding NCB Mumbai has followed the law and no illegal action was taken.”
Nigade said, “We followed the law and called them for enquiry…These are just tactics to apply pressure as both their sons are in jail.”
Gurunath Chinchkar shot himself at his residence with a pistol on April 25, 2025. In a note that was recovered, he alleged he was being harassed by the NCB, which was pursuing his son Naveen, and ANC that were probing a massive drug syndicate operating in several nations. The NRI police in Navi Mumbai had taken an accidental death report last year.
