Patna: The Netflix show Khakee: The Bihar Chapter has been a hit since its release in November, but the cop whose exploits it is based on is now facing a corruption case because of the series.
Bihar-cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Amit Lodha has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) for allegedly misusing his position and engaging in “illegal activities” for financial gain, namely getting into a deal with Netflix and a production company called Friday Story Teller.
The police complaint also cites Lodha’s 2018 book upon which the series is based. Called Bihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar’s Most Dangerous Criminal was Caught, the book details how Lodha nabbed a dreaded gangster in the mofussil town of Sheikhpura.
“Amit Lodha is not an established story writer [and] neither he was authorised nor permitted to write a book and use same for commercial purpose,” states the FIR.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the state’s Special Vigilance Unit (SVU), created by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to target corruption in the government, said that Lodha, despite being a government servant, had entered into a commercial deal with Netflix and the production company behind the show back when he was inspector general (IG) Magadh range. Lodha is currently serving as the IG of the state crime records bureau (SCRB).
The release says that he has been booked under IPS sections 120b (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and 168 (public servant unlawfully engaging in trade) along with sections 13(1)(b) and (13(2) of the PCA, which pertain to criminal misconduct by a public servant.
“The matter is still being investigated, As of now, there will be no arrest,” SVU additional director general (ADG) Nayyar Hasnain Khan told ThePrint.
Lodha, meanwhile, has maintained that he has not done anything illegal. “I have faith in myself and I have faith in the system. I have done nothing wrong,” he told ThePrint.
A senior officer at the police headquarters, however, claimed that there was plenty of “documentary evidence” against Lodha.
“The case has been investigated thrice even by the Vigilance Department. It was after so much investigation and evidence that a case against him was cleared by the top. Lodha cannot claim immunity because his action did not concern government work,” said the officer, hinting that Lodha’s accounts showed large transactions.
Also Read: Netflix’s Khakee star IPS officer Amit Lodha is Bihari Singham, nightmare for ganglords
The fictionalised account
Khakee, released on 25 November, draws from Lodha’s 2018 novel, Bihar Diaries, a fictionalised account where a cop takes on a local don. It’s based on the events that unfolded in the state from 2000 to 2006, when the IPS officer from the Bihar cadre tracked down and arrested notorious gangster Ashok Mahto.
Ashok Mahto, along with sharpshooter Pintu Mahto, reportedly killed 15 people over two nights in May 2006.
In Khakee, a gangster named Chandan Mahto is believed to be modelled after Pintu Mahto. He was charged with the 2005 murder of Rajo Singh, the then-Congress MP. He was acquitted of the crime in June this year.
Actor Karan Tacker, who played the role of Amit Lodha, thanked the officer on his Instagram a week after the release of the series. Posting a picture of himself with Lodha, the actor wrote: “Had it not been for his struggles, we would have not had a story to tell.”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
Also Read: Netflix’s Khakee is no Gangs of Wasseypur but manages to be entertaining and engaging