Mumbai Police Paid ₹6.41 Cr to 10 ‘Ghost’ Employees: What Exposed the Payroll Fraud

An internal inquiry by Mumbai Police has uncovered an alleged payroll fraud in which salaries amounting to ₹6.41 crore may have been paid to 10 individuals who were not police personnel.

The suspected payments were made between 2019 and 2020, as per a report by Mid-Day.

The suspected irregularities surfaced during the migration of employee records from the old Sevaarth payroll system to a new software platform.

According to Mid-Day, the discrepancies came to light when salary records were reviewed as part of the transition.

What Does The Complaint Allege?

Filed by a police officer attached to Mumbai Police's north regional division, the complaint alleges that individuals who were not part of the force were shown as police employees and received salaries from government funds.

According to Mid-Day, the questioned transactions relate to December 2019 to February 2020 and June to September 2020.

The FIR names Ramdas Bhogle, Sudhakar Kadam, Sarju Yadav, Bhagwat Bhosale, Gunaji Khavankar (or Khavkar), Mahadev Haldankar, Rajendra Sonar, Uttam Thorat, Suryakant Patil and Pandurang Kadam as the alleged beneficiaries linked to the excess payments.

How Was The Fraud Carried Out?

Investigators suspect that officials associated with administrative and salary sections may have acted in connivance with other beneficiaries by creating or using false employee records to process salary payments.

According to a report by NDTV, ministerial-level clerical staff allegedly fabricated attendance records and inserted outsiders into the payroll.

The report further said fake Service IDs and Defined Contribution Pension Scheme (DCPS) IDs were allegedly created to facilitate the salary payments.

Who Is Under Scrutiny?

The departmental inquiry named former administrative officials Ramkishan Goswami, Nagesh Talwadekar and Vijaya Chavan, along with Chief Clerk Ajay Rathod and clerk Amol Meshram, as per Mid-Day.

A criminal case has been registered against these five individuals under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, covering allegations including cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy.

Vijaya Chavan and Amol Meshram have been suspended, barred from leaving the Brihanmumbai jurisdiction without permission, prohibited from taking up private employment, and required to submit periodic declarations to receive subsistence allowance, as per NDTV.

Wider Questions Over Payroll Controls

The alleged fraud has widened scrutiny of payroll verification and financial controls within the Mumbai Police.

According to Mid-Day, Deputy Commissioner of Police Gajanan Rajmane is leading the departmental inquiry, assisted by ACP- and inspector-rank officers.

Investigators are reviewing employee service records, salary bills, bank transactions and digital data linked to the suspected payments.

Similar payroll-related irregularities have surfaced in Dhule and Latur, although a senior police officer cautioned against treating the three cases as part of a single organised conspiracy at this stage. Even so, the incidents have raised concerns about possible vulnerabilities in administrative and digital payroll systems across Maharashtra.

The inquiry will seek to establish how the alleged fictitious employee records were created, approved and paid, while examining whether comparable discrepancies exist in other police units. Its findings are expected to determine whether the case was an isolated instance or points to broader systemic weaknesses in payroll oversight.