Ex-Maharashtra exam body chief Shailaja Darade remanded to police custody in job scam | Pune News
A Pune court on Tuesday remanded Shailaja Darade, a 52-year-old former head of the Maharashtra State Examination Council (MSEC), to police custody till August 12 for investigation into an alleged government job scam.
Popat Suryavanshi, a 50-year-old teacher from Atpadi in Sangli district, had filed an FIR in February accusing Shailaja and her brother Dadasaheb of taking Rs 27 lakh after promising government teacher jobs for his relatives, which never materialised.
Police said apart from Suryavanshi, the accused duped 44 more people of Rs 4.85 crore since June 2019 with false assurances of jobs as teachers, RTO officials, and village accountants.
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“While the majority of them were offered jobs as government teachers, there is evidence that some were promised positions in regional transport offices (RTO) and posts of Talathi too. Probe also revealed the involvement of one more person identified as Arjun Vishnu Khade in this scam. During investigation, we have obtained some audio and video recordings, which show that Khade was involved in fraudulent financial deals in this offence. Search is on for Khade,” said assistant police inspector Chetan Thorbole, the investigating officer.
Khade has been named as a wanted accused in this case. Dadasaheb was earlier arrested on April 4 and later granted bail. Shailaja was arrested on Monday and produced before a judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) in the Cantonment court Tuesday. All the accused have been charged with criminal breach of trust, cheating, and common intention.
Police sought her custody to recover the alleged scam money, probe if she bought property or gold using it, and examine voice samples related to call recordings seized. They also want to check if more people are involved.