Following the arrest of Vijay Shravan Watkar, Secretary of the Saint Ignatius Education Society, on corruption charges, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials conducted searches at his residence, known as Watkar Palace, near Bhosla Ved Shala, Mahal. During the search, authorities seized Rs 68 lakh in unaccounted cash. Watkar, aged 68, serves as the Secretary of the Saint Ignatius Education Society, which operates St. Vincent Upper Primary School on Uday Nagar, Manewada Road. He was apprehended by bureau officers after a case was filed under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Hudkeshwar Police Station on Thursday, following a complaint lodged by a retired clerk from his school.
The clerk, who retired in 2018, had sought assistance from Watkar to expedite 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 to facilitate the process. Fed up of constant harassment by Watkar, the retired clerk lodged a complaint at the ACB office against Watkar last year. The bureau officers verified the complaint and laid traps to catch Watkar red-handed with the bribe amount. However, it’s claimed that one of Watkar’s associates alerted him about the complaint, resulting in him refusing the cash from the retired clerk.
Following this, bureau officers began inquiries against Watkar and opted to charge him for allegedly demanding Rs six lakh from the complainant. Shortly after detaining Watkar, a team led by PI Ashish Choudhary, PI Varsha Mate, ASI Surendra Sirsat, and constabulary staff, under the supervision of SP (ACB) Rahul Maknikar, Additional Superintendents of Police Sanjay Purandare, and Sachin Kadam, raided his residence and seized Rs 68 lakh in cash. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.