MUMBAI: A senior clerk at Maharashtra’s transport authority stands accused of siphoning off public money by manipulating tax payment systems. What began as minor irregularities in digital accounts has exposed a deeper web of misplaced trust, digital loopholes, and the quiet ease with which public funds can vanish in India’s bureaucratic maze.
The Discovery at the Central Office
At the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s (MSRTC) Central Office in Mumbai Central, the routine work of tax audits and registrations rarely made headlines. But that changed when Assistant Accounts Officer Amol Shelar noticed unexplained irregularities in online income tax transactions handled through the department’s State Bank of India account.
The red flags pointed toward Prathamesh Kailas Pawar, a 33-year-old senior clerk responsible for preparing contractors’ bills and overseeing tax payments across several branches. Employed since 2018, Pawar had direct access to the corporation’s digital banking credentials — a privilege intended for administrative efficiency that, as investigators now allege, became the foundation of a systematic fraud.
How the Fraud Unfolded
According to police reports, between May 8 and June 18, 2024, Pawar allegedly diverted ₹21,80,401 from the MSRTC’s account into multiple personal bank accounts through fourteen online transfers. When colleagues attempted to reach him for an OTP required to complete a tax payment in June 2024, his phone was switched off. Pawar soon stopped reporting to work, citing health issues, and disappeared altogether.
The irregularities only became evident after officials reviewed digital logs and bank records, revealing a deliberate manipulation of government payment systems. Once the fraud was confirmed, Shelar escalated the matter to senior MSRTC officials, who directed him to file a complaint. The Nagpada Police subsequently registered a case under Sections 406, 408, 417, and 418 of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, dealing with criminal breach of trust, cheating, and cyber fraud.
The Manhunt and Arrest
For more than a year, Pawar managed to evade capture. Investigators say he “went underground,” prompting a months-long search across Mumbai and neighboring districts. Acting on a tip-off, a police team in plain clothes finally apprehended him at Ambedkar Road in Sion, ending his 18-month disappearance.
During interrogation, Pawar reportedly confessed to embezzling the funds. Preliminary investigations revealed that he had invested the stolen money in stock trading, a habit that had already drawn scrutiny from colleagues. Police sources described him as someone deeply involved in share trading who had even borrowed large sums from coworkers to fund his investments. His financial patterns, investigators believe, show a dangerous intersection of personal debt and professional access.
Tracing the Money Trail
With Pawar’s confession in hand, the Nagpada Police are now retracing the money trail — a complex web of digital transfers and brokerage accounts. Investigators are examining whether the embezzled sums were moved to third-party accounts or used for speculative trading under different aliases.
Officials are also probing whether other employees, knowingly or not, facilitated the transactions by sharing internal credentials or authorizations. The case, they say, has highlighted the vulnerabilities of India’s digitized public finance systems, where trust and access often coexist without sufficient checks.
As the investigation continues, the MSRTC’s accounting department has tightened its procedures, mandating dual-authorization protocols for all online tax payments.
