Suspicion of similar scams in several housing establishments in the area
Article by Hrishikesh Thakur and Aapli Samasya Team
Panvel, Date: 19 Dec 20: You may have seen the movie ‘Mala Maal Weekly’ starring Riteish Deshmukh, Paresh Rawal and Om Puri. In this movie, the whole village cheats the lottery inspector by conspiring to steal the lottery money of the deceased Anthony. It is suspected that MSEDCL officials in Panvel 1 sub-division are doing the same to cover up the theft of one of their employees. Maharashtra Varta’s ‘Aapli Samasya’ team has exposed this matter. A few days back, Maharashtra Varta had received a complaint against Shekhar Rangari, an employee of Mahavitaran (MSEDCL) about alleging financial fraud against the Mahalaxmi Nagar Magnolia Housing Society in Nere Gram Panchayat area of Panvel taluka. The documents related to this case were checked by our ‘Aapli Samasya’ team. After going thorough research, many shocking things came to light.
MSEDCL employee Shekhar Rangari, who lives in the same complex, had painted a false story and demanded Rs. 15,280/- from the office bearers of the society at the end of August to cover the shortfall in the common electricity bill of the society. At this time, the then Society office bearers handed over the check (No. 197714 dated 4-09-2020) to Shekhar. What the swindler did after that has definitely brought the state’s energy department to shame. It is true that the check given by the society was deposited in the account of MSEDCL by the swindler but it is clear from the available documents that the money was spent to pay the electricity bill of his previous house and three other people’s houses with the connivance of the employees of Panvel 1 sub-divisional office this ‘glory’ of MSEDCL employees would have been covered. However, while checking the previous accounts, an official of the society found discrepancies and asked MSEDCL for detailed information. In reply, MSEDCL formally disclosed that Rs.15,280/- was spent to pay the electricity bills of 4 electricity consumers without using it to pay the electricity bills of the society. After digging deeper, our team found that one of the bills belonged to Shekhar Rangari’s previous rented house, which our team cross-checked it with the landlord Mr. Shinde.
Consumer Number Details
However, the superiors will have to answer on what basis MSEDCL’s accounting department deposited the money in each other’s accounts without verifying the account and customer number related to the check. Even though the matter of the scam came to the notice of the MSEDCL officials in Panvel last month, they are still delaying the prosecution of the concerned employees and officials in this case, so it is doubtful whether they also indirectly support such scams. What is special is that the progress and lifestyle of this employee over the last few years has been eye-catching.
A few months before the lockdown started, Maharashtra Varta had launched a massive public interest campaign called ‘Mahavitaran and 40 Thieves’. Under this campaign, we had brought to the notice of the senior officials of MSEDCL and the Energy Minister the grievances of the people regarding the scam being carried out by the power distribution workers in Nere, Chiple Gram Panchayat limits in Panvel-Bhingari section. At this time, many distressed citizens of Mahalakshmi Nagar, a housing complex of about 1200 houses, took Shekhar Rangari’s name directly and made serious allegations that he was tampering with the meter. But the shameless officials of MSEDCL ignored it. Which today gave courage to a junior employee like Shekhar Rangari and he started a series of scams. The Maharashtra Varta’s Legal Team has lodged a formal complaint against the looting of money launderers and officials like Shekhar Rangari at MSEDCL senior officials.
In the Navi Mumbai division, MSEDCL and CIDCO are among the most prosecuted departments by the Anti-Corruption Branch. This is definitely not a good thing for these departments. At present, under the ‘Mahavitaran and 40 Thieves’ campaign, Maharashtra Varta will be ready to eradicate the pests of government establishments MSEDCL, which have the best structure in the country.
You can contact ‘Aapli Samsya’ Team at 9372236332 via WhatsApp and news@maharashtravarta.com via e-mail to report/inform corruption scams by corrupt government employees.
