After Adarsh files, freedom fighters' pension files mysteriously vanish from state secretariat.
Maharashtra’s surviving freedom fighters have been left in the lurch after 55 important files pertaining to their pensions have been stolen from Mantralaya. A complaint has been filed with the Marine Drive police station. The police have initiated investigations into the matter but are baffled as to how the documents were stolen in spite of heavy security and checks at every level.
This is not for the first time that files have gone missing from Mantralaya. In November 2010, documents from 10 files on Adarsh Society went missing from Mantralaya’s Urban Development Department. A case was registered with the Marine Drive police station and was later transferred to the crime branch for further investigation.
According to police sources, Sanjay Nangre, a Mantralaya official working with the General Administration Department, which looks after freedom fighters’ pension documentation and paperwork, had lodged a complaint with the police after he learnt that the documents were reportedly stolen from the department.
“He said the documents were believed to be stolen before December 3, 2013. The complainant has specifically said the documents have been stolen and were not missing,” said an officer of the Marine Drive police station.
The incident has left the police baffled as Mantralaya has high security and is watched over by CCTV cameras. “It is a serious security lapse as 55 files containing pension details of freedom fighters and this could become a hurdle in their pension process,” he said.
The police will soon be recording statements of all the department personnel who were handling the files and will also go through CCTV camera footage of the office from where they were stolen.“We will trace their movement and find out who was the last person who was in their possession,” said another officer.
According to senior police inspector P Chinchalkar of the Marine Drive police station, a case under section 380 (theft in dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code and section 8 (destruction or disposal of public records) of the Maharashtra Public Records Act has been registered against an unknown person.
“Unless we reach the person who is responsible for this act, we would not know whether the files were misplaced or were actually stolen with some malafide intentions,” said the officer.
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