Mumbai: The Agripada police has registered a case against former mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar and two senior officials of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in connection with Mumbai's Covid scam controversy.
The case against Pednekar, Pednekar, a former Additional Municipal Commissioner and a former Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Purchase), and private contractor Vedanta Innotech was registered following initial investigation by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police in the wake of allegations of a scam in the purchase of body bags at inflated rates during the Covid-19 pandemic.
An official of the EOW said that in July he had received a written complaint in this matter and investigation revealed irregularities in the purchase of body bags, following which an FIR has been registered under sections 409, 418, 420 and 120(B) of IPC at Agripada Police Station.
BMC had in line with orders given by Pednekar, bought body bags from Vedanta Innotech on 14 April 2020. BMC had bought body bags at ₹6,700 per bag while private hospitals had charged ₹1,500 for the body bags, about one-third the price paid by BMC, said an official. The amount involved in the alleged scam is reported to be ₹60-70 lakh and this may which may increase during the course of investigation, the official said.
EOW questioned Ravindra Waikar
The EOW has also questioned Ravindra Waikar, an MLA of the Thackeray group, for five hours — from 12.15 pm to 5.10 pm on Saturday — in connection with the alleged plot scam of ₹500 crore in Mumbai.
Waikar has been accused of defrauding BMC of ₹500 crore by getting permission to build a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for gardens.
A senior BJP leader had complained to EOW in March that Waikar had fraudulently obtained permission for the construction of a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for a garden by using his influence.
On July 26, 2021, BMC had sanctioned a five-star hotel at Vyarvali village, Jogeshwari JVLR, at Plot No.1-B and 1-C, which is owned by Waikar and others, according to the complaint. The plot was reserved for a garden but was being used for construction by Waikar and his partners, it alleged.
After recording his statement with EOW, Waikar told the media that the allegation of ₹500 crore scam against him is false. “I have answered all the questions of EOW,” he said.
“I have not indulged in any scam. I am ready for any kind of investigation. I have worked according to the rules. I am not going to succumb to his pressure,” he said.
