Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has intensified its investigation into the ₹65 crore Mithi River desilting scam. According to EOW sources, officials will soon begin recording statements from representatives of companies that participated in the BMC’s tender process between 2020 and 2025 but were deliberately excluded in favor of contracts being awarded to companies controlled by key accused Bhupendra Purohit.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has intensified its investigation into the ₹65 crore scam related to the Mithi River cleaning project. The EOW is set to record statements from individuals linked to companies that participated in the tender process between 2020 and 2025 but were allegedly sidelined through a conspiracy orchestrated by BMC officials to favor companies owned by key accused Bhupendra Purohit.
The EOW has discovered that each year, approximately 20–25 companies bid for the Mithi River desilting tender. However, officials in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in alleged collusion with Purohit, included selective technical and special conditions in the tenders that disqualified all other companies. This manipulation ensured that contracts were consistently awarded to Purohit’s firms.
Investigators further revealed that several excluded firms possessed adequate dredging machinery but were declared technically unfit. EOW plans not only to record statements from these excluded companies but may also designate some representatives as witnesses under Section 164 of the CrPC, allowing their testimony to be used as evidence in court.
A senior EOW officer confirmed that one key witness has already been turned—Sarika Kamdar, a close associate of chief accused engineer Prashant Ramugade. Kamdar, who was listed as the director of Grupo Solutions, a firm involved in the scam, admitted in her statement that she acted on Ramugade’s instructions and had no actual role in the company’s operations. Her testimony is expected to bolster the case significantly.
Meanwhile, sources revealed that Ramugade, who had been regularly appearing before the EOW for questioning following the registration of the case in May 2025, suddenly disappeared on the very day the agency had planned to arrest him. It is suspected that someone tipped him off about the impending arrest, prompting him to go underground and file for anticipatory bail.
While EOW continues efforts to locate and apprehend Ramugade, the leak of confidential arrest plans has raised serious concerns about insider collusion within the agency or among external associates. The investigation is ongoing.
