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.
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.
