Following the conclusion of the firefighter recruitment process, officials from the municipal corporation and the fire brigade have been implicated in a fraudulent recruitment scheme. The Agripada police have registered a case of fraud involving five individuals and are continuing their investigation. It is reported that 61 people have been defrauded, with the number expected to increase.
The complaint, filed by Ramesh Damodar Bhor (55), a Divisional Fire Officer in Byculla, led to the case registration. The complaint details a recruitment drive conducted in 2023 for 910 firefighter positions. Out of 42,534 applicants, 18,481 passed the initial tests. A final list of 873 successful candidates was published on the municipal corporation's website on May 11, 2023. From this list, 550 candidates were invited for training in the first batch, of which 508 attended. Ultimately, 490 candidates completed the first batch of training, and 247 completed the second batch. A waiting list of 277 candidates was created but expired in November.
The alleged fraud was perpetrated by former chief clerk Manish Patil, firefighter Rupesh Patil from Kurla Fire Station, Andheri Fire Station's director Devidas Waghmare, and city security guard Malhari Gulabrao Shinde. They allegedly created counterfeit appointment letters, claiming that candidates had been selected for firefighter positions based on their performance in tests conducted by the municipal corporation earlier in the year. The letters instructed the candidates to attend a medical examination by July 12. These fraudulent letters were signed with a forged signature of the Chief Fire Officer and had discrepancies in the outgoing letter records. The investigation revealed that Rupesh Patil had collected 2.3 million rupees from the victims. Upon discovering the scam, the victims approached the police and lodged their complaints. The Agripada police are actively pursuing the investigation into this case.