Malegaon Municipal Commissioner Ravindra Jadhav has been arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with an alleged demand for commission from contractors for releasing their pending payments, days before he was due to retire from the post on October 31. Garden Superintendent Nilesh Patil and another municipal employee were also arrested in the case, according to a Free Press Journal review of ACB action in the Nashik division.
The allegations against the three men have not been tested in court. The ACB case concerns an alleged demand for a cut from contractors in return for clearing payments that were already due to them, the review said. The arrest attracted wide attention locally because Jadhav was reportedly on the verge of retirement when the bureau moved against him.
Dhule Collector given additional charge on October 30
On October 30, the Maharashtra government gave Bhagyashree Dilip Vispute, the District Collector of Dhule, additional charge as Commissioner of the Malegaon Municipal Corporation. The order, dated October 30, 2026 and signed by Deputy Secretary Priyanka Kulkarni, entrusted the additional charge of the vacant commissioner post to the Dhule Collector till further orders for administrative convenience and directed her to take charge and submit a compliance report to the government, Ummid reported. Ummid said the additional charge was given a day after Jadhav's arrest by the ACB on corruption charges.
Vispute, an IAS officer who took charge as Dhule Collector in May 2025, was born and brought up in Malegaon, where her father runs a jewellery shop. She holds a B.Pharm degree from Pune University and cleared the civil services examination in her third attempt.
Nashik division tops ACB case tally
The Malegaon arrests came as figures showed the Nashik division of the ACB — covering Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Ahilyanagar districts — had recorded the highest number of cases among Maharashtra's eight ACB divisions in 2026, with 110 cases registered and 177 suspects booked up to September 21. Across the state, the ACB conducted 531 trap operations in the same period, registering cases against 758 suspects, with reported bribe amounts totalling approximately Rs 3.03 crore. Citizens facing demands for illegal gratification can approach the Maharashtra ACB on its toll-free helpline 1064 or on WhatsApp at 9930997700. The investigation in the Malegaon case is continuing.