Mithi scam: Contractor gets police remand till Aug 26; says targeted for supporting particular party

Mumbai, Aug 21 (PTI) A court here on Thursday remanded a contractor, arrested in the Rs 65-crore Mithi river desilting scam, to police custody till August rpt August 26, with the accused claiming he was being targeted for raising his voice against corruption in the system and for supporting a particular political party.

The arrested contractor, Shershing Rathod (50), is accused of allegedly creating fake MoUs and receiving Rs 29.62 crore through bogus bills, the police told the court.

It alleged that the accused was also involved in preparing fake MoUs using the name of even a dead person.

Arrested on Wednesday, Rathod was produced before chief judicial magistrate (Esplanade court) Abhijit Solapure. The Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the city police sought his custody for 10 days for further investigation into the matter.

While pressing for his remand, the police told the court that the accused did not complete the job of desilting as per the contract.

The accused ferried debris collected from various places in his vehicles, claiming it to be silt from Mithi. He then submitted fake bills for the same, the police submitted.

The police, represented by additional public prosecutor Pravina Patil, said his custody was required to probe all aspects related to the case, including who helped in preparing the fake bills, MoUs etc.

Singh's lawyer, Sandeep Maurya, opposed the remand application, saying that he had already secured an anticipatory bail in 2024 in a case linked to the Mithi river desilting scam.

The EOW case is identical to the one filed at Kanjurmarg and has been registered only to victimise him for raising his voice against corruption in the system, he submitted.

The accused was being targeted for his effort to point out corruption in the system. Also, because he supports a particular political party, his lawyer Sandeep Maurya argued.

He argued that the present matter being identical with similar facts, the accused cannot be remanded to police custody.

However, the prosecution contested the defence's claim, saying the crime registered at the suburban police station in 2024 was different from the present one.

Giving details of the case, the additional public prosecutor told the court that the accused was also involved in the preparation of fake MoUs even using the name of a dead person.

The court, after hearing both sides, held that the present case may have some elements of the previous matter, but it has wider scope.

The FIR shows allegations of forged MOUs and payments for work not done, the court said.

Taking note of an argument of defence, the court noted that the name of the present accused was not there in the FIR. However the chargesheet filed in the case, as stated by the prosecution, shows his name as a suspect.

It acknowledged the investigation officer's submission that the probe is going on against the present accused and others.

On the anticipatory bail application, the court said that it would be too early to say that both the cases are the same and the accused has been vexed twice.

The court found that the prosecution has presented good grounds for the grant of custody, which will only help in the effective investigation of the crime.

It then remanded the accused to police custody till August rpt August 26.

Earlier, the agency had also questioned Bollywood actor Dino Morea and his brother in the Mithi desilting scam.

In May this year, the Mumbai police registered a case against 13 persons, including contractors and civic officials, for an alleged Rs 65.54 crore scam in the tenders awarded from 2017-2023 for the desilting of Mithi, which flows through Mumbai and acts as a stormwater drainage channel for the metro city. PTI AVI NP BNM