According to reports, Mumbai police conducted raids on 16 locations on Wednesday. Some prominent government officials’ homes were also searched in relation to the matter. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched a number of locations in Mumbai and the surrounding areas on Wednesday in connection with a money laundering case against Sujit Patkar, a close associate of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut, that has been linked to the alleged Covid centre scam.
A close aide of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, IAS Sanjeev Jaiswal, and Yuva Sena UBT Secretary Suraj Chavan were the targets of the raids, according to the facts.
According to reports, Mumbai police conducted raids on 16 locations on Wednesday. Some prominent government officials’ homes were also searched about the matter.
Iqbal Singh Chahal, the municipal commissioner for the BMC, provided testimonies to the ED in connection with the matter on January 16. Speaking to India Today at the time, Chahal had disclosed that the BMC had only 4,000 beds available in 2020 when Covid cases started to rise. He said that the state government had also given orders to establish field hospitals and that the WHO had suggested making arrangements for more and more beds.
According to Chahal, “help was sought from agencies and Jumbo hospitals were established, with the availability of thousands of beds.”
Chahal referred to the police complaint as follows: “In August 2022, the Mumbai Police received a complaint involving field hospitals. We explained to the Mumbai Police that because we got thousands of bids, we were unable to identify fakes. After that, we received a summons from the ED, and I filled it out completely.
According to the accusation, Sujit Patkar and his accomplices received Covid centres in Mumbai and Pune after he used fraudulent paperwork to apply for them at the BMC. The complaint also claims that Patkar and his business lack hospital management expertise.
An agreement Patkar had signed with the BMC for running Covid field hospitals was discovered during ED raids at Patkar’s home. Additionally, Patkar earned Rs 38 crore for this into the account of his business.
It was claimed that Patkar hired a doctor to handle the work after receiving the BMC contract through his unregistered firm and that he then negotiated a contract for the company to manage the field hospitals. Sujit Patkar is said to be a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
