Latest news with #BhupendraPurohit
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
ED summons Dino Morea in Mithi desilting case next wk
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned actor Dino Morea for questioning next week, following searches at his premises regarding a money laundering case linked to the Mithi river desilting scam that caused a Rs 65 crore loss to the BMC. The ED said BMC officials and contractors had created a cartel to secure civic tenders at inflated rates, and they are investigating BMC engineer Prashant Ramgude in the case. In a press release, the ED said, "The evidence collected during the course of investigation and search operation prima facie indicates that Prashant Ramgude, Bhupendra Purohit, Jay Joshi, Ketan Kadam, officials of Matprop Technical Service Pvt Ltd and others colluded to form a cartel with the intent to manipulate BMC tenders related to the desilting of the Mithi river." The ED release said the cartel formation "effectively conferred a monopoly in the award of desilting contracts of Mithi river and caused payments at inflated rates for desilting works, resulting in undue gains to the contractors and associated parties" causing financial loss to the public exchequer". It said illegal gains were concealed through layering via shell companies and firms established through collaboration among Ketan Kadam, Bhupendra Purohit, Prashant Ramgude, and other individuals.
Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Indian Express
Rs 1,000 crore Mithi River desilting scam: In first FIR, 13 booked for Rs 65 crore fraud; EOW conducts searches at 8 locations
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Tuesday registered an FIR against five contractors, three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, three middlemen, and two private company officials for wrongful loss to the civic body worth more than Rs 65.54 crore in the alleged Mithi River desilting scam. The scam is claimed to be worth Rs 1,000 crore. A senior EOW officer confirmed the development and said that EOW is carrying out searches at eight locations in connection with the matter. The EOW official said that a case was lodged under sections 406, 409, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code against BMC assistant engineer Prashant Ramugade, deputy chief engineers Ganesh Bendre and Tayshette (full name not known), and Deepak Mohan, Kishore Menon, Jay Joshi, Ketan Kadam and Bhupendra Purohit, the directors of Acute Designing, Kailash Construction Company, NA Construction, Nikhil Construction, and JRS Infrastructure, respectively. Eight places linked to the accused are being searched by the EOW. The EOW SIT has registered a suo motu FIR after conducting inquiries, and Inspector Bilal Shaikh is the complainant in the case. The Mithi desilting scam As per the FIR (a copy of which is with The Indian Express) initially filed with the Azad Maidan police, the accused BMC officers misused their positions for wrongful financial gains. The FIR further alleges that the accused, by including terms and conditions as mentioned in the contract agreement regarding silt pusher machine and multipurpose amphibious pantoon machine, along with the accused Mohan, Menon of Matprop Company, Joshi of M/s Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, and other partners and Ketan Kadam and other partners and directors of Vodar India LLP, and contractor Bhupendra Purohit and others, conspired to defraud the BMC financially. 'The accused BMC officer of the Pajwa Division of the Municipal Corporation, without verifying the authenticity of the dumping sites mentioned in the false and fabricated MOU submitted by the directors of the contractor companies Acute Designs, Kailash Construction Company, N A Construction, Nikhil Construction Company, J.R.S Infrastructure and others, provided and helped contractors take disadvantage,' the EOW officer stated in the FIR. Also, the FIR added, officials of the Pajawa division have caused financial loss to the BMC by approving bills on the basis of fake documents related to the weighbridge and log sheets. SIT was formed in 2024 In recent months, the SIT has expedited investigation into the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) commenced into the alleged Mithi River desilting scam. Over a dozen contractors were questioned for hours. In August 2024, the formation of the SIT was announced in the Maharashtra state Legislative Council after BJP MLCs Prasad Lad and Pravin Darekar raised questions. After this, an SIT headed by a joint commissioner of police (EOW), deputy commissioner of police (EOW), and an assistant commissioner of police, along with some junior officers, was formed to look into alleged manipulations in the Mithi River desilting works. The SIT was scrutinising the spending of around Rs 1,100 crore on the Mithi River desilting between 2005 and 2021. After finding material fit for filing a cognisable complaint, the SIT registered an FIR. The desilting of an 11.84 km stretch of the Mithi River is under the BMC, while the remaining 6.8 km stretch of the river is under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). 'After analysing the contract documents and details of the desilting work from the BMC and MMRDA, and based on sustained inquiry of the contractors, we have registered a criminal case and are further investigating the matter,' said an EOW officer. There are 18 contractors under the SIT's scanner. 'We inquired if the proper rules and norms were followed while awarding contracts for desilting work. The BMC and the MMRDA have different contract-awarding procedures. We inquired if the desilting works were done or if it was only on paper; if yes, where the desilted garbage was dumped, which vehicles were utilised for transporting the mud, etc,' the officer added.
