EOW Cracks Down on Mithi River Scam: Two Held, BMC Officials Accused in ₹65.5 Crore Fraud

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police has submitted a chargesheet running over 7,000 pages in the ₹65.5 crore Mithi River desilting scam. The document, filed in court on Friday, names two men who were arrested earlier in connection with the case. Eleven others, including several officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), are yet to be taken into custody despite being named in the FIR.

Ketan Kadam (50) and Jay Joshi (49) were arrested on May 6, the day the FIR was registered. Joshi is currently out on bail, while Kadam remains behind bars, according to police sources. Kadam is linked to Ketan Vodar India LLP, whereas Joshi holds a director position at Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd. 

The court has yet to take cognisance of the chargesheet, which details how Kadam and Joshi allegedly pocketed a commission of ₹9 crore. Acting as middlemen, they are accused of working with BMC insiders to secure a lucrative river-cleaning contract for a preferred contractor.

The EOW formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on March 20 last year, under the leadership of Joint Commissioner Nishith Mishra, to look into the scam. Investigators claim that contractors, intermediaries, and civic officials colluded to embezzle funds by submitting fake bills for desilting work that was never carried out, resulting in a loss of ₹65.5 crore to the civic body.

According to police, Kadam was instrumental in arranging rental agreements between contractors and the suppliers of heavy machinery, including silt pushers and multipurpose amphibious pontoon machines. These machines were originally sold by a firm named Matprop to Virgo. Though the equipment was reportedly worth ₹3.1 crore, BMC officials allegedly manipulated official documents to have the contractors rent them instead — at an inflated cost of ₹4 crore over two years.