Over 4k Shalarth IDs Collated By Cops, Many Teachers Under Lens

Nagpur: Shalarth ID drafts or unique web-based teacher identification number of around 4,000 teachers were collated by cyber cell personnel, which also included 580 fake ones generated by hacking computer systems at the office of the deputy director of education.

The cyber cell, which got custody of deputy director of education Ulhas Narad through a production warrant from Nagpur prison in their case, also seized the laptop of the higher official. His cell phone was also seized.

Apart from Narad's electronic devices, the cell phone of another arrested clerk, Suraj Naik, was also seized. On Saturday, the cyber cell ensured extension of police custody of Narad and Naik by a day. The duo was among the six arrested in the education scam by Sadar police and their role is now being probed by the cyber cell.

Intriguingly, the FIR at the cyber cell was registered by the junior administrative officer of Narad's office, Ravindra Patil, in March this year. In the Sadar police station's case, a search at the north Nagpur's Teka Naka-based residence of arrested teacher Mahendra Mhaiskar on Friday helped police unearth 22 duplicate proposals of teachers for creation of Shalarth ID drafts. Around 50 documents and detailed biodata of teachers were also recovered. Sources stated most fake proposals were of teachers from Bhandara and Gondia.

Sadar police, who have so far arrested six persons in the education scam, conducted searches at several places, including at the residence of Mhaiskar, who was serving at an aided school at Arjuni Morgaon in Gondia. His wife is also a teacher. Police said the searches revealed Mhaiskar was supposed to present proposals before the Zilla Parishad education department, from where the files would have gone for recommendations in the office of the deputy director of education for the creation of the fake Shalarth IDs.

"More aspiring govt teachers and assistant teachers were ready to join the queue and get recruited on the basis of fake proposals," said an official related to the probe. Mhaiskar was the one who allegedly created the fake experience certificate of Bhandara-based headmaster Parag Pudke, who was the first to get arrested along with the deputy director of education Ulhas Narad earlier this week by Sadar police under senior inspector, Manish Thakare and Zonal DCP Rahul Madane.