New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen assets worth over Rs 47 crore in follow-up raids across Mumbai in connection with the Mithi River Desilting Scam, the agency announced on Saturday.
The search operations, conducted on July 31 by ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office, covered eight locations linked to BMC contractors and a civic engineer.
The crackdown is part of an ongoing money laundering probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
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 FIR No. 0075/2025 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.
Further investigation is underway.
–IANS
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