Swapna Patkar, a witness in a money laundering case linked to the Patra Chawl redevelopment case, has complained to the Vakola police claiming that she had received a threat letter pressuring her not to raise voice in the court. Patkar in her complaint to the police claimed that someone had hurled a bottle in the compound of her residence and the bottle contained a chit in which threat was issued to her.
According to the complaint filed by Patkar, around 1.12 am on Wednesday, she heard noise of a glass bottle having broken in the compound of her residence. On enquiring with her security staff she learnt that there was a paper chit inside the bottle. Patkar then called the police control room after which a police team arrived at the spot and the chit was then taken out of the bottle. The chit, said Patkar, was written in Marathi and was threatening her not to raise voice in court.
Case filed against miscreants
"Other things written in the letter did not make any sense. A case has been filed with the police under section 506 (criminal intimidation) and I hope the police investigate who is being this threat," Patkar told FPJ.
In July last year, Patkar had complained to the police that she had received a paper inserted in a daily newspaper which contained a rape and murder threat to her. In the letter, it was stated that she would be murdered and put in Thane creek if she opened her mouth before the ED.
Investigation launched under PMLA
The had launched an investigation under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd that was allegedly involved in the redevelopment of Patra Chawl. Patra Chawl had 672 tenants in tenements on 47 acres of land belonging to Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA).
The ED had initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Mumbai Police's EOW against M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, Sarang Kumar Wadhawan in connection with alleged irregularities in the redevelopment project.
