Chairman of Maharashtra state educational board held for graft

NAVI MUMBAI: The Divisional Chairman of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), Mumbai Division, Rajendra Ahire (55), was arrested by the Navi Mumbai Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) after being caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 22,000 at the board office in Vashi on Tuesday. ACB Deputy SP Dharmaraj Sonake said the complainant had been allotted an electrical contract for maintenance and repair of the state board office building in Vashi for one year, from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026. The contractor lodged a complaint on 25 March, alleging that Ahire demanded a bribe of Rs 22,176 as a 7% commission for sanctioning the total bill amount of Rs 3.16 lakh for the period from November 2025 to February 2026. The bribe was reportedly demanded through the stores department head, Manohar Pawar. During verification on 6 April, the bribe demand by Ahire was confirmed. A trap was subsequently laid on 7 April at the state board office building in Vashi, where Ahire was caught red-handed accepting the bribe from the complainant in his cabin. An FIR under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against him at Vashi police station. Separately, in February, based on a complaint lodged by Ahire, an FIR was registered at Vashi police station against retired Deputy Director of Education Nitin Upasani. The FIR accused Upasani of cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust, along with 18 others from two educational institutions in Alibaug and Khopoli, for preparing Shalarth IDs using forged documents to recruit teachers and allow them to draw monthly salary grants. Ahire claimed that upon scrutiny of official documents at the Mumbai divisional office in Vashi related to the Shalarth ID scam, it was found that all 19 accused had committed the offences from August 2018 onwards during Nitin Upasani’s tenure as Vashi divisional chairman of MSBSHSE. The teachers recruited with forged documents were able to receive monthly government salary grants, allegedly embezzling around Rs 1.25 crore.