BMC COVID centre scam case: ED arrests Sanjay Raut's aide, civic doctor

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made the first arrests in the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) Covid Center scam case. 

According to ED officials, Sujit Patkar, a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and a civic doctor Kishore Bisure have been arrested.

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Patkar and Bisure will be produced in a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court later.

Earlier in June ED raided 15 locations in Mumbai in connection with the alleged BMC Covid centre scam case and seized cash and documents of properties worth crores, according to ED sources.

The case is linked to a money laundering case against Sujit Patkar. The ED source said that Patkar is the kingpin of the scam. He is one of the four partners of Lifeline Hospital Management Services that was awarded the contract to run a COVID-19 jumbo centre in Worli.

The ED said that Rs 22 crore was allegedly laundered via shell companies for which Patkar played an instrumental role.

ED had seized Rs 68.65 lakh in cash during the raid. Documents of 50 immovable properties located at various places in Maharashtra with a market value of more than Rs 150 crore, fixed deposits and investments worth Rs 15 crore and jewellery worth Rs 2.46 crore have also been recovered.

According to the sources, ED had also seized several mobile phones and laptops along with many incriminating documents.

The search revealed that one company was giving body bags for dead COVID-19 patients to another company for Rs 2,000. That company was giving the same body bags to the Central Procurement Department for Rs 6,800 and this contract was signed by the then BMC mayor, said the sources in the ED.