Mumbai: In a significant development in the ongoing investigation into the Rs 65 crore Mithi River desilting scam, Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has unearthed fresh revelations linking civic officials and contractors in a deeper financial nexus.
According to the EOW, several contractors, including key accused Bhupendra Purohit, transferred Rs 92 lakh into the bank account of a company named Grupo Solutions, allegedly linked to BMC engineer Prashant Ramugade. Of this amount, Purohit alone transferred Rs 50.50 lakh, while the remaining Rs 41.94 lakh came from other contractors involved in the project.
Investigators found that Grupo Solutions was being operated by a close associate of Ramugade’s woman friend Sarika Kamdar, and a contact of accused Ketan Kadam, a known middleman. The financial trail establishes a direct connection between Purohit and Kadam, strengthening suspicions of collusion.
The EOW has also found that engineer Ramugade did not visit the dumping sites nor verified the images of trucks uploaded by contractors—despite it being his core responsibility before passing desilting bills. Instead, he passed the contractors’ bills without any inspection.
Further inquiry revealed that Purohit submitted old and doctored photographs of silt-transporting trucks through the BMC's official app to falsely show completion of work. EOW’s analysis confirmed the images were recycled and fake.
Records indicate that in 2023–24, the contract for desilting was awarded to Purohit’s firm, Tridev Enterprises. In previous years, similar contracts were consistently bagged by companies run by Purohit, his brother, and his brother-in-law—MB Brothers and Tanisha Enterprises—allegedly with the connivance of Ramugade and Kadam.
EOW officials are continuing to probe financial transactions and ownership links to unravel the full extent of the conspiracy and identify all beneficiaries of the scam.
