The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted search operations at multiple premises linked to veteran politician and contractor Janardan Moru Mhatre, Director of J.M. Mhatre Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, in connection with a money laundering case involving the alleged illegal acquisition and sale of government forest land in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.
The searches, carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, covered Mhatre’s residential premises and the offices of J.M. Mhatre Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. covering two properties in Panvel and one office-cum-residential premises of the firm in Dadar. The operation was aimed at tracing the proceeds of crime and gathering evidence in the Rs 52 crore forest land scam.
The ED’s probe is based on an FIR registered by the Panvel Police Station following a complaint by the Forest Department, RFO Uran, Alibag Division.
According to the FIR, Mhatre allegedly forged land records by inserting duplicate mutation entries in 2005 to acquire large tracts of government forest land. The intent was to falsely establish ownership over land located in Survey No. 427/1 (41.70 hectares) and Survey No. 436/1 (110.60 hectares) in Mauje Vahal, Panvel Taluka, Raigad. ED officials suspect that these forged records were later used to sell portions of the land to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), for over Rs 52 crore in compensation.
Janardan Mhatre allegedly transferred 1.86 hectares from Survey No. 436/1 and received Rs 42.4 crore, while another accused, Saiyyed Mohammad Abdul Hamid Qadri, transferred 0.4225 hectares from Survey No. 427/1 and received Rs 9.69 crore, according to ED sources.
Janardan Mhatre, director of JM Mhatre Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. and a senior leader of the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), has been active in Maharashtra politics for over three decades. He previously served as the President of the Panvel Municipal Council. His son, Pritam J. M. Mhatre is contesting the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections from the Uran constituency as a candidate of PWP. However, in a strategic political shift ahead of the upcoming local elections, both Janardan Mhatre and his son recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
J.M. is currently serving as a senior BJP party functionary in the Raigad district, playing a key role in strengthening the party's presence ahead of the upcoming elections.
ED investigation reveals, the land scam pertains to forest land in Panvel notified as Reserved Forest under the Maharashtra Private Forest (Acquisition) Act, 1975. Despite restrictions on sale, Qadri allegedly sold five hectares from Survey No. 436/1 to Janardan Moru Mhatre in 1995 without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Forest Department. ED officials said Mhatre later mortgaged the land to Bank of Baroda and other banks multiple times fraudulently securing loans worth Rs 200 crore, and also executed a sale deed with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), claiming false ownership and collecting Rs 42.4 crore. Qadri, too, received Rs 9.69 crore through a similar fraudulent compensation claim. Both are accused of violating forest and land regulations to defraud the government of Rs 52 crore. The agency is investigating whether these funds were laundered and diverted into movable or immovable assets.
