Vasai illegal bldgs: ED submits charge sheet against 18, including ex-VVCMC chief

The agency has also provisionally attached assets worth ₹71 crore since July, owned by some of the 41 builders who are under the probe’s scanner and other case accused persons, ED sources said on Friday

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a money laundering probe into the construction of 41 illegal, now-demolished buildings in Vasai East since 2009 and corruption scam, on Friday submitted its charge sheet in the case.

The 41 illegal buildings were demolished in February this year pursuant to court orders, rendering nearly 2,500 families homeless.

The charge sheet names 18 persons and entities among the accused, including former Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) commissioner and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Anil Pawar, former deputy director of planning at VVCMC YS Reddy, former Bahujan Vikas Aghadi corporator Sitaram Gupta and co-accused Arun Gupta.

The agency has also provisionally attached assets worth ₹71 crore since July, owned by some of the 41 builders who are under the probe’s scanner and other case accused persons, ED sources said on Friday. The attached assets included funds and assets, the sources said, without specifying details.

Pawar, who allegedly formed a cartel that set in motion large-scale illegal construction in Vasai-Virar, was arrested on August 13, along with Reddy, Sitaram Gupta and Arun Gupta.

During its probe, the ED found that Sitaram Gupta and Arun Gupta had played key roles in selling off the 60-acre plot on which the 41 illegal buildings stood. They had sold the plot to local builders using forged agreements and power of attorney documents and the builders in turn constructed the 41 buildings between 2013 and 2021, in close connivance with certain VVCMC officials and officers, ED officials said.

Thirty acres of the plot was privately owned while another 30 acres was reserved for a sewage treatment plant and dumping ground, as per the approved civic development plan. The buildings on the plot were demolished in February this year pursuant to court orders, rendering nearly 2,500 families homeless.

Apart from fresh attachments worth ₹71 crore, the ED had seized cash worth ₹10.27 crore and jewellery and bullion worth ₹23.25 crore during searches conducted in May and July this year. It had also frozen bank deposits, shares, mutual funds, fixed deposits worth ₹13.86 crore.

The ED’s investigation in the case is based on multiple cases registered by the Mira- Bhayandar police against builders, local henchmen and others. Its probe revealed the alleged existence of an organised cartel of VVCMC officers, including a former commissioner, a former deputy director of town planning, junior engineers, architects, chartered accountants and liasioners.

“The cartel was responsible for large-scale illegal construction within the jurisdiction of the VVCMC in exchange for a huge amount of bribe,” an official said.

According to the probe, after Pawar became the VVCMC commissioner, the commission amount for approval of building permissions was fixed at ₹20-25 per square feet for the commissioner and ₹10 per square feet for junior civic officials. The rate for turning a blind eye and taking no action against rampant illegal construction on government and private land was fixed at ₹150 per square feet, said ED sources.

Pawar’s lawyer denies charges

The accused persons, including Pawar and Reddy, have rebutted the ED’s allegations. Terming the agency’s action against Pawar as “unjustified and baseless”, his lawyer Ujjwalkumar Chavhan had, on August 21, demanded a fair, impartial and transparent probe at a press conference.

“Mr Pawar assumed charge as the commissioner of VVCMC on January 13, 2022, whereas the illegal construction in question was carried out in 2009-10,” Chavhan had said, as reported by HT.

Pawar had, under court orders, initiated the demolition of such unauthorised structures, for which he had faced two life-threatening attacks earlier, the lawyer had said. Chavhan also clarified that cash worth ₹1.33 crore seized during an ED search operation had not been recovered from Pawar’s residence, but was instead connected to his relative who provided an explanation to ED regarding its source as a business fund.