The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday made two arrests in connection with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) COVID-19 centre scam case. Among those arrested are Sujit Patkar, a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, and Dr Kishor Bisure.
The ED has requested eight days of custody of both the accused from a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, for further investigation to inquire how many others, including BMC officials, were involved in the scam case.
The BMC COVID-19 centre scam case pertains to a money laundering case connected to alleged irregularities in the establishment of jumbo COVID-19 treatment facilities in Mumbai.
As per previous reports, Patkar and three partners were accused of obtaining Mumbai civic body contracts deceitfully to manage COVID-19 field hospitals during the pandemic.
The ED took Patkar and Bisure into custody on Wednesday night after discovering their alleged involvement in the case. Dr Bisure formerly served as the dean of the Dahisar jumbo
COVID-19 centre.
Both individuals will be presented before the court on July 20.
Last month, the ED conducted raids at 15 locations in Mumbai as part of the money laundering investigation involving Patkar and others.
The searches also targeted some BMC officials and other individuals, including
IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal and Suraj Chavan, a core committee member of the Yuva Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), in connection with the management contracts of COVID-19 hospitals.
With agency inputs.
First Published: Jul 20, 2023 1:04 PM IST
