Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 4.5 | Rayat Samachar
Contents
(Scam) The financial embezzlement case worth ₹100 crore at P.E.S. Engineering College, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has taken a serious turn, with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) officially launching an investigation. The case gained momentum after the ‘Save PES‘ organization filed a complaint with the government a few days ago, and several affected employees have also approached the administration with their individual complaints.
(Scam) In this matter, Acting Principal Prof. Sandeep Kirtane had filed an official complaint with the Economic Offences Wing through the ‘Aaple Sarkar‘ portal. Taking serious cognizance of the complaint, the police administration assigned the investigation to Assistant Police Inspector Dnyaneshwar Avgad.
(Scam) Complainant Prof. Kirtane has leveled serious allegations against College Principal Dr. Abhijit Wadekar, along with former Joint Directors Mahesh Shiwankar and Umesh Nagdive, and current Joint Director Dr. Kiran Ladhane, accusing them of collectively committing a ₹100 crore financial scam.
Violation of Court Orders: As per the High Court order dated April 4, 2013, the authority to distribute salaries to PES Engineering College employees was handed over to the Director of Technical Education, Maharashtra. Former Joint Director Mahesh Shiwankar was then officially authorized to manage the salary process. However, it is alleged that from November 2017 onwards, Principal Dr. Abhijit Wadekar began distributing salaries through unknown accounts, bypassing the directives of both the Director and the Court. This irregularity reportedly came to light in 2023 through the Devre Committee report.
Injustice to Professors, Forced Resignations: A shocking claim has emerged that illegal deductions were made from the salaries of several qualified and experienced professors, forcing many to resign. The complaint also states that all these employees were working in higher grades as per the orders of the then authorized Chairman K.H. Ranganath.
Salary Stoppage Exposed the Scam: After Prof. Sandeep Kirtane was appointed as Acting Principal of the Polytechnic, his salary was being paid from the PES account. However, his salary was stopped after some time. Despite repeated requests to the management with no response, he conducted a thorough inquiry and discovered that the salary process was being handled by the Principal rather than the Joint Directors.
He then filed complaints with the EOW and relevant authorities. The police have taken the complaint seriously and recorded Prof. Kirtane’s written statement.