Covid jumbo centre scam: ED raids Thackeray's close aide, other officials in Mumbai

Searches were conducted at multiple locations in Mumbai and nearby areas by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged Covid center scam case, registered against Sujit Patkar, a close aide of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut.

The raids were underway on the premises of IAS Sanjeev Jaiswal and Yuva Sena UBT Secretary Suraj Chavan, a close aide of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, as per the details. 

A total of 16 places were reportedly raided across Mumbai on Wednesday. Residences of some senior government officials were also being searched in connection with the case.

The ED had, on January 16, recorded statements of BMC Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, in connection with the case.

Speaking to India Today, Chahal had then revealed that in 2020, when Covid cases began to rise, BMC had only 4,000 beds available. The WHO had advised to arrange for more and more beds and the state government also issued orders to create field hospitals, he said. 

"Help was sought from agencies and Jumbo hospitals were created, with the availability of thousands of beds," Chahal had said.

Regarding the police complaint, Chahal stated, "In August 2022, a complaint was received by the Mumbai Police, regarding field hospitals. We told the Mumbai Police that since we received thousands of tenders, we could not detect forgery. Thereafter, we received ED summons, wherein I provided them with all the information."

The complaint

The complaint states that Covid centers were allotted to Sujit Patkar and his partners in Mumbai and also in Pune, in which he used forged documents which were submitted to BMC. The complaint also says that Patkar and his firm did not have any experience of running hospitals.

During raids by the ED at Patkar's home, officials found a document of agreement, which Patkar had signed with the BMC, for managing Covid field hospitals. For this, Patkar also received Rs 38 crore into his company’s account.

It was alleged that after receiving the BMC contract through his unregistered company, Patkar handed over the work to a doctor and signed an agreement for managing the field hospitals on the company’s name.

Sujit Patkar is said to be a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.