Maeeshat News Network |Malegaon

In the bustling town of Malegaon, Maharashtra—a hub of textile mills and diverse communities—a shocking education scam has unravelled, exposing deep-rooted corruption in the state’s public schooling system. What began as a whistleblower complaint about unqualified teachers drawing salaries for over a decade has ballooned into a multi-crore fraud involving fake appointments, backdated records, and complicit officials. As of September 2025, arrests continue to mount, with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Nashik Rural Police at the forefront of the probe. This case not only highlights local malfeasance but also ties into a larger statewide scandal of “ghost teachers” siphoning off billions in public funds.

The Anatomy of the Fraud

At the heart of the Malegaon scam are two primary schools: Malegaon High School & Junior College, managed by the Anjuman Moinut Tulba society, and Y N Jadhav School in Sangmeshwar. In a brazen scheme, school managements allegedly recruited 13 teachers in 2024 but doctored records to show their appointments dated back to 2012. This sleight of hand allowed them to claim government salaries retroactively—from 2012 to 2021—totalling over Rs 2.6 crore for the Anjuman school alone. Similar irregularities plagued Y N Jadhav School, where at least one junior clerk, Sandip Jadhav, was appointed in 2012 despite failing to pass his Class 10 exams. He pocketed Rs 45 lakh in salary until April 2024, contributing to a combined fraud exceeding Rs 1 crore across the cases.

The modus operandi was simple yet insidious: Proposals for these “appointments” were funnelled through the Nashik Zilla Parishad (ZP) education department, where officials rubber-stamped the documents without verification. Fake joining dates, forged qualifications, and even non-existent staff profiles were entered into the system, enabling the diversion of funds meant for genuine educators. Investigations revealed that unqualified individuals paid bribes—ranging from Rs 20-30 lakh—to secure these phantom positions, a tactic echoing the broader Maharashtra ghost teachers racket. In aided schools like those in Malegaon, lax oversight made such manipulations easier, as these institutions receive government grants with minimal on-ground scrutiny.

This local episode is symptomatic of a massive statewide crisis. In July 2025, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis revealed in the assembly that education officials had created thousands of bogus identities on the Shalarth portal—a digital platform for teacher salaries and records—to embezzle between Rs 2,000 and 3,000 crore. Fake Shalarth IDs, complete with fabricated bank accounts and photos, allowed salaries to be withdrawn for non-existent staff, with bribes demanded even from legitimate teachers for backdated promotions. While the Malegaon case isn’t explicitly linked in reports, its tactics mirror this epidemic, underscoring systemic vulnerabilities in the education bureaucracy.

Key Players and the Trail of Arrests

The scam’s exposure owes much to Zainab, daughter of teacher Mohammad, who filed a complaint on July 27, 2024, at Pawarwadi Police Station in Malegaon. Her allegations triggered a domino effect of revelations, implicating school managements, teachers, and high-ranking officials.

School Management: Ishaque Zariwala, Chairman of Anjuman Moinut Tulba, and other committee members face arrest warrants after their anticipatory bail pleas were rejected by lower courts. They have escalated the matter to the Bombay High Court.

Teachers Involved: On September 2, 2025, five teachers from Malegaon High School—Imtiaz Ahmed Riyaz Ahmed, Aafaque Anjum Ashfaq Ahmed, Faheem Ahmed Iqbal Ahmed, Shaikh Aarif Ibrahim, and Naeem Ahmed Sagheer Ahmed—were arrested following EOW interrogations. Statements from retired headmasters and existing staff corroborated the backdating fraud.

Education Officials: The noose tightened on September 10, 2025, when three senior Nashik ZP figures were nabbed, Praveen Patil (Deputy Director of Education), Uday Deore (Deputy Education Officer), and Sudhir Pagar (Office Superintendent). Patil and Pagar were tied to the Anjuman school fraud, while Deore cleared the bogus junior clerk at Y N Jadhav School. Produced before a Malegaon court, they were remanded to police custody until September 13, 2025.

Politically, the scandal has roiled Malegaon, a constituency represented by Education Minister Dada Bhuse. Local MLA Mufti Ismail spotlighted the issue during the Maharashtra Assembly’s Monsoon Session in July 2025, accusing corruption of thriving “under the nose” of the minister and demanding accountability. Bhuse’s response led to the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Nagpur’s Zone 2 Deputy Commissioner Nityanand Jha, broadening the probe to include Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, and Chandrapur districts—where 24 officers and principals have already been arrested.

Broader Implications and the Road Ahead

The Malegaon scam has inflicted lasting damage. Genuine teachers went underpaid while fraudsters siphoned funds, eroding trust in an already strained public education system. With over Rs 3 crore lost locally and billions statewide, it raises urgent questions about digital portals like Shalarth and the need for field-level audits, as urged by former official Ram Pawar.

As the SIT delves deeper—with more arrests likely—the case could reshape Maharashtra’s education governance. For Malegaon’s students, whose futures hang in the balance, swift reforms are not just desirable but essential. The arrests signal progress, but only rigorous oversight can prevent the next ghost from haunting the classroom.