ACB Raid Reveals Rs 68 Lakh Cash Hoard at School Secretary's Residence

Vijay Shravan Watkar, aged 68, who holds the position of Secretary at the Saint Ignatius Education Society, supervising St. Vincent Upper Primary School on Uday Nagar, Manewada Road, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on corruption charges. The ACB officials searched his residence, Watkar Palace near Bhosla Ved Shala, Mahal, during which they found and seized Rs 68 lakh in unaccounted cash.

Watkar's arrest came after a case was registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Hudkeshwar Police Station, following a complaint from a retired school clerk. The clerk, who retired in 2018, had sought Watkar's assistance in expediting his pension and post-retirement dues. When no action was taken, the retired clerk approached the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in 2019. Allegedly, Watkar demanded Rs six lakh from the clerk in exchange for processing his requests, leading to the retired clerk filing a complaint against Watkar with the ACB.

Although ACB officers attempted to catch Watkar red-handed with the bribe amount, one of his associates allegedly warned him about the complaint, resulting in Watkar refusing to accept the cash from the retired clerk. Subsequently, ACB officers launched an investigation into Watkar's activities and decided to charge him for demanding the bribe.

Upon taking Watkar into custody, a team led by PI Ashish Choudhary and PI Varsha Mate, along with ASI Surendra Sirsat and constabulary staff under the supervision of SP (ACB) Rahul Maknikar, Additional Superintendents of Police Sanjay Purandare, and Sachin Kadam, raided Watkar's residence and seized the unaccounted cash. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.

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