A ₹6.41 crore salary fraud has been exposed within the Mumbai Police payroll system, revealing that ten so-called employees never existed in reality. The case, dating back to 2019–20, came to light during the recent migration of payroll data to a new software system, triggering suspension of two key staff and a criminal investigation.
## Discovery amid system upgrade
The irregularity surfaced when the Mumbai Police transferred employee data from the old Sevarth salary portal to its replacement. An officer in the north regional division identified that monthly wages had been disbursed under the names of ten individuals who were not police personnel.
These names appear in the First Information Report (FIR) as:
– Ramdas Bhogle
– Sudhakar Kadam
– Sarju Yadav
– Bhagwat Bhosale
– Gunaji Khavkar
– Mahadev Haldankar
– Rajendra Sonar
– Uttam Thorat
– Suryakant Patil
– Pandurang Kadam
Payroll anomalies emerged during two periods: December 2019–February 2020 and June–September 2020. It was during these months that unauthorized salary payments were routed into accounts under names of these ghost employees.
## Alleged internal collusion
Internal staff at the ministerial level are suspected of orchestrating the fraud. They reportedly falsified attendance sheets and manipulated personnel records to include the names of outsiders. These entries allowed the ghost employees to receive consistent monthly pay.
Five individuals have been booked under the FIR. They are former administrative officers Ramkishan Goswami, Nagesh Talvadekar, and Vijaya Chavan, along with Head Clerk Ajay Rathod and Senior Clerk Amol Meshram.
## Legal response and suspensions
Charges framed against the accused include cheating, forgery, breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
The police department suspended Vijaya Chavan and Amol Meshram over allegations that they created fake Service IDs and Defined Contribution Pension Scheme (DCPS) identifiers to approve the fraudulent salaries of the phantom employees.
Additional restrictions were placed on the suspended individuals: they are barred from taking private work or undertaking any trade, required to make regular declarations to receive subsistence allowances, and prohibited from leaving Brihanmumbai without prior official permission.
## Investigative scope and wider concerns
Authorities are working to identify the ten ghost employees more precisely and trace control over the related bank accounts. The inquiry aims to establish who benefitted from the fraudulent payments.
Similar payroll irregularities and smaller-scale corruption have been uncovered in the Dhule and Latur districts. This has prompted senior officials in Maharashtra to review payroll system flaws across law enforcement agencies statewide.
## Ramifications and oversight
The ₹6.41 crore disbursed in this scam was spread out over months, indicating a sustained misuse of state payroll systems. The exposure six years after the payments illuminates structural vulnerabilities in how employee attendance, identity verification, and payroll auditing are handled.
With the BNS, 2023 now guiding legal standards, the case illustrates both evolving legislative frameworks and persistent gaps in administrative oversight. The involvement of high-ranking clerical staff in creating fraudulent documents heightens concerns about internal checks and the potential for misuse.
## What’s next
Investigators are expected to:
– Confirm the identities or actual existence of the ten fictitious employees.
– Determine who controlled the bank accounts into which salaries were routed.
– Recover the misappropriated funds under legal provisions.
– Evaluate and strengthen payroll systems to prevent recurrence.
Suspended officials may face charges under more sections as evidence unfolds. The investigation will likely influence policy reviews across other police forces in Maharashtra.
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