Nagpur: A major scandal has come to light involving the embezzlement of lakhs of rupees by a former sub-divisional engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) during the Nagpur Assembly session. A case was registered against the engineer at the Sadar Police Station on Saturday, though his arrest is still pending. Authorities suspect that more individuals within the department may also be involved.
The accused, Toliram Phulaji Rathod, a resident of CIDCO Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, served as the Sub-Divisional Engineer in the PWD from August 25, 2009, to June 7, 2011. During his tenure, the city’s winter assembly session took place from December 7 to 12, 2009. Various works, including painting, cleaning, and construction, were carried out by multiple departments during this period. However, it has been revealed that several of these tasks did not fall under Rathod’s department, yet funds were shown as being spent on them. Rathod allegedly withdrew ₹42 lakh from the government account in three installments, claiming the amount was spent on these works, even though many of the projects listed in the records were never actually completed. This fraudulent documentation allowed him to siphon off the funds.
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Wednesday 15 Jan. 2025
Due to the seriousness of the case, an inquiry committee was established. In the meantime, Rathod was transferred from Nagpur and has since retired. The investigation continued, eventually leading to the confirmation of his involvement, after which the case was handed over to the police. On Saturday, Rathod was officially charged with embezzling government funds. The nature of the scandal suggests that other departmental officials and private contractors may also be implicated. Efforts are underway to gather further evidence, and some individuals have already been questioned, but no arrests have been made so far. The police have stated that if others are found guilty during the investigation, they will be arrested alongside the main accused.
