BJP's Kirit Somaiya slams Shiv Sena (UBT) over Mumbai COVID centre scam

In a post on X, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said, "Uddhav Thackeray Sena ki COVID ki Kamai. Court rejected Sanjay Raut's partner Sujit Patkar's bail in Rs 34 crore COVID centre scam of BMC. He was arrested by ED on July 19, 2023."

https://x.com/KiritSomaiya/status/1858701404379955596

Notably, a special court in Mumbai rejected Sujit Patkar's bail plea on Monday. Patkar and another accused Kishore Bisure was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 19, 2023, in connection with the Rs 34 crore COVID centre scam involving the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

In June 2023, the ED raided 15 locations in Mumbai in connection with the alleged BMC Covid centre scam case and seized cash and documents of properties worth crores, according to ED sources.

ED also carried out raids at the homes of IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal and Suraj Chavan, a core committee member of the Yuva Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction).

The ED source said that Sujit Patkar is the kingpin of the scam. He is one of the four partners of Lifeline Hospital Management Services that was awarded the contract to run a COVID-19 jumbo centre in Worli. The ED said that Rs 22 crore was allegedly laundered via shell companies for which Patkar played an instrumental role.

ED had seized Rs 68.65 lakh in cash during the raid. Documents of 50 immovable properties located at various places in Maharashtra with a market value of more than Rs 150 crore, fixed deposits and investments worth Rs 15 crore and jewellery worth Rs 2.46 crore have also been recovered.

According to the sources, ED also seized several mobile phones and laptops along with many incriminating documents. The search revealed that one company was giving body bags for dead COVID-19 patients to another company for Rs 2,000.

That company was giving the same body bags to the Central Procurement Department for Rs 6,800 and this contract was signed by the then BMC mayor, said the sources in the ED. (ANI)