Retired Jalgaon education officer arrested in ₹160 crore Shalarth ID fraud

Beed: Former Beed Primary Education Officer and noted Marathi author Shashikant Hingonekar has been arrested by the police in Dhule in connection with the high-profile ₹160-crore Shalarth ID scam. The action has sent shockwaves through Maharashtra's education department.Hingonekar served as the Primary Education Officer at the Beed Zilla Parishad between 2015 and 2017. However, the alleged fraud pertains to his earlier tenure from 2011 to 2015, when he was posted as the Secondary Education Officer in Jalgaon district.Pune: 17-Year-Old Boy Murdered Over Suspected Love Affair In Phursungi; Two Held According to investigating agency sources, Hingonekar allegedly conspired to grant fraudulent approvals to 259 individuals and facilitated the creation of fake Shalarth IDs, the unique identification numbers required for salary disbursement to school employees in Maharashtra. Investigators claim the fraud resulted in a loss of nearly ₹160 crore to the state exchequer.Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that similar irregularities may have occurred in Beed district during Hingonekar's tenure. Reports suggest that bogus Shalarth IDs were generated in collusion with certain educational institution owners, office-bearers and administrators. Investigating agencies have reportedly begun a preliminary inquiry into his tenure in Beed, although an official report is yet to be released.Pune: Pandharpur Temple Corridor Work To Begin This Year, Completion Expected In Four Years, Says CM Devendra Fadnavis The high-profile arrest has once again brought the education department's Shalarth approval mechanism under scrutiny, with officials expecting more revelations as the investigation progresses.

Jalgaon: Nashik Road Police arrested Shashikant Hingonekar, the retired Secondary Education Officer of Jalgaon, in Dhule for allegedly defrauding the government by creating fake 'Shalarth' ID orders. News of his arrest caused a major stir in the education sector when it broke here on Friday evening.The case involves a massive fraud against the government amounting to ₹160 crore perpetrated through the creation of fake 'Shalarth' IDs across the state. According to the case registered at the Nashik Road Police Station, fake 'Shalarth' orders were generated for 587 teachers and non-teaching staff across the Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, and Nandurbar districts of the Nashik Division, despite the absence of any individual approval or official proposal.Data was uploaded into the 'Shalarth' system based on these orders, enabling the concerned individuals to receive salaries and other financial benefits, thereby defrauding the government of ₹160 crore.Shashikant Hingonekar served as the secondary education officer from August 22, 2011, to June 23, 2015. Police suspected that bogus teacher recruitment had taken place in Jalgaon district during this four-year period, a suspicion supported by documents that surfaced during the investigation.So far, 1,200 individuals have been identified as accused in the case, including suspects from the Jalgaon, Dhule, and Nandurbar districts. The Nashik investigation team had previously arrested Prashant Wadile, an educational institution administrator from Dhule, on July 10; the investigation subsequently implicated the retired Jalgaon education officer, Shashikant Hingonekar.Neelam Kothari, Vatsal Sheth And Ishita Dutta Set For SPARK’s Pune And Mumbai Singles Evenings The investigation team did not find him in Jalgaon; however, upon learning that he was visiting a relative in Dhule, the team proceeded there and arrested him near Sakri Road, Dhule, around midnight on Thursday. After completing the necessary legal formalities, the team left for Nashik with him on Friday.Hingonekar's arrest has caused a stir in the education sector, and there is a possibility that other officials from Jalgaon could also be implicated in the matter. He holds a prominent position in the district as a poet and man of letters.