Two more contractors held in Rs 65 crore Mithi River desilting scam

Mumbai, Dec 11 The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested two more contractors in the alleged Rs 65 crore Mithi River desilting scam, taking the total number of arrests in the case to five, the Mumbai Police said.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Sunil Upadhaya (54) and Mahesh Purohit (48), both of whom, according to investigators, secured desilting work orders using bogus Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs).

The Mumbai Police said the two contractors were produced before the Esplanade Court earlier in the day and have been remanded in police custody till December 16 for further questioning.

The police told the court that custodial questioning was necessary to examine the documents used to obtain the contracts, financial transactions linked to the allegedly fraudulent work orders, and the network of individuals involved.

The alleged scam pertains to desilting work awarded for the Mithi River, a crucial flood-control channel that runs through various parts of Mumbai. Preliminary findings indicate that several contractors may have submitted fabricated MOUs, false claims of capacity, or manipulated project documentation to secure desilting tenders, while the on-ground work was either inadequately carried out or not executed as per sanctioned norms.

Earlier, three other accused had been arrested in connection with the case. With the latest arrests of Upadhaya and Purohit, investigators believe they are expanding the probe into the tendering process, the approvals chain, and possible collusion among contractors.

Notably, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 2 announced that it froze assets worth over Rs 47 crore in follow-up raids across Mumbai in connection with the Mithi River Desilting Scam.

The search operations, conducted on July 31 by ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office, covered eight locations linked to BMC contractors and a civic engineer.

According to the agency, the searches were conducted at the premises of contractors -- M/s Acute Designs, M/s Kailash Construction Company, M/s Nikhil Construction Co, M/s N A Construction Pvt Ltd, M/s J.R.S Infrastructure -- and BMC engineer Prashant Krishna Tayshete.

The operation led to the freezing of over Rs 47 crore held in various bank accounts, fixed deposits, and demat accounts.

During the raids, officials also seized digital devices, property-related records, and other incriminating documents deemed crucial for further investigation.

The case stems from an FIR registered at Azad Maidan Police Station, which alleges that 13 individuals and entities -- including the aforementioned contractors and BMC officials -- caused a loss of Rs 65 crore to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The ED stated that preliminary evidence indicates widespread irregularities in the desilting works of the Mithi River.

Contractors allegedly submitted forged documents, including fake MoUs with landowners and No-Objection Certificates from Gram Panchayats for silt dumping sites.

Investigators also found that civic officials misused their positions for personal gain, particularly in the procurement and deployment of silt pushers and multipurpose amphibious pontoon machines introduced in BMC tenders during 2021-22.

Earlier, on June 6, the agency had raided 18 locations in connection with the same case. With the latest action, the total amount of proceeds of crime frozen or seized has reached Rs 49.8 crore.

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