The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched extensive searches across Mumbai on Friday in connection with the sensational Mithi River desilting scam, unearthing a massive network of alleged corruption, forged contracts, and financial fraud involving civic officials and private contractors.
The crackdown follows the granting of bail to Jay Joshi, a representative of Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, who had earlier been arrested in the same case. While a magistrate court had denied his bail plea citing the probe’s early stage, a Mumbai sessions court granted it on Thursday, though the detailed order is awaited.
The ED’s investigation aligns with the findings of the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which uncovered a deeper conspiracy allegedly masterminded by BMC engineer Prashant Ramugade. Authorities claim Ramugade operated a shadow partnership with contractor Bhupendra Purohit, who owns Group One Solutions—the firm that bagged the river-cleaning machinery maintenance contract.
To dodge scrutiny, Ramugade allegedly used his associate Sarika Kamdar as a proxy partner, while Purohit named his wife Kiran in official documents. Behind the scenes, however, Ramugade and Purohit were allegedly pulling the strings, diverting public funds for private gain.
Investigators discovered that instead of desilting the river, dump trucks were misused to transport construction debris from private real estate sites. To fake legitimacy, a thin layer of river sludge was added atop the debris before submitting inflated and fraudulent bills to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The rot didn’t stop there. Ramugade reportedly manipulated tender conditions to repeatedly award contracts to four firms linked to Purohit—Tridev, Tanisha, MB Brothers, and DB—creating a closed loop of favoritism and corruption.
The ED is now following the money trail to identify broader financial misconduct involving multiple layers of civic bureaucracy and private contractors. As the probe deepens, the Mithi River scam is quickly becoming one of Mumbai’s most disgraceful examples of public fund misappropriation under the guise of environmental restoration.
