Maharashtra Education Commissioner writes to ACB, seeks inquiry against 40 officials

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The Education Commissioner of Maharashtra has written a letter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), urging it to conduct an open inquiry into the conduct of 40 officials, reported news agency PTI.

Complaints have been received against these officials, and some of them have been caught in bribery cases, Commissioner Suraj Mandhare stated.

The officials under scrutiny hold ranks of education officers and above, he told PTI.

"I have written a letter to ACB asking them not just to restrict the probe to trap cases but initiate an open inquiry to unearth some malpractices which were not reported," he said.

Meanwhile, A 22-year-old man has been arrested on the charge of alleged abduction and rape of a minor girl, who had gone missing four years ago in Maharashtra's Pune district, an official told PTI.

According to the police, the girl had gone missing from Manchar town in the district in March 2019 following which they had registered a case of kidnapping then.

Last month, the accused and the girl returned to Manchar. Relatives rescued the girl from a room where she was staying with the accused, the official said.

"On May 16, the relatives of the girl produced her at the police station. The next day, (accused) Javed Shaikh was arrested. He is currently in judicial custody," police said in a release.

Police have registered a case against Shaikh under Indian Penal Code sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 344 (wrongful confinement) and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Member of Legislative Council Gopichand Padalkar claimed in a press conference that the girl was tortured. He said the girl was singed with cigarettes, forced to do some immoral work, made to eat beef, and compelled to wear a burka.

He urged the police to "go to the root" of the case.

(With inputs from PTI)