Two more held in Mithi River desilting case

The two contractors who have been arrested had played an important role in faking documents submitted to the civic body to claim money against bills for work that was never done, according to an officer with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police

MUMBAI: Two more arrests have been made in the Mithi River desilting case, taking the total number of arrests to five. The two contractors who have been arrested had played an important role in faking documents submitted to the civic body to claim money against bills for work that was never done, according to an officer with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police.

Mumbai, India. June 27, 2025: View of the polluted Mithi River in the BKC and Kurla area of Mumbai. The Mithi River flows through Salsette Island, which is part of the city of Mumbai. Mumbai, India. June 27, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

Police said that although no silt was removed from the Mithi River, these contractors had submitted forged Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), log sheets and other documents to show that silt had been removed and dumped.

“We have arrested Mahesh Purohit of MB Brothers and Sunil Upadhyay of SNB Infrastructure. Both were added as accused in the supplementary charge-sheet filed in November,” said a senior police officer with the EOW.

The desilting scam, from 2013 and 2023, was a systematic effort by contractors and civic officials to siphon funds meant for cleaning the Mithi River, whose flooding has consistently waterlogged parts of Mumbai during the monsoon.

Police said MB Brothers had secured contracts worth ₹23.43 crore between 2014 and 2020, while SNB Infrastructure had bagged contracts worth ₹27.79 crore.

“We have recorded the statements of 14 land owners (on whose land the silt was purportedly dumped). Many of them told us they had not rented their property to these contractors and that their signatures had been forged to prepare fake MoUs,” said an EOW officer.

Police have already arrested three others in the case – Ketan Kadam, a middleman and lynchpin in the operation; Jay Joshi, another middleman; and Shersingh Rathore, a contractor.

According to the FIR filed by the EOW in May, Kadam and Joshi colluded with BMC officials to create a monopoly for their silt pusher manufacturing firm, Maptrop Services, by inserting certain clauses in desilting tenders.

The FIR was registered following a detailed inquiry into the alleged irregularities. Several high-profile individuals have been questioned in connection with the scam, including actor Dino Morea and his brother Santino, over their alleged links with the two masterminds.

A special investigation team (SIT) was constituted in August 2024 after questions were raised in the state legislative council about alleged irregularities in the desilting of the 18-km-long river.

Thirteen individuals have been named in the case, including three civic officials, for allegedly causing a loss of ₹65.54 crore to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and taxpayers.