The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 15 September filed a chargesheet against businessman Sujit Patkar, an associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, in connection with irregularities in Covid-19 “jumbo centres” in Mumbai. The chargesheet was submitted before the court’s registry and it will come up before the special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after scrutiny of papers. The chargesheet is 78 pages long, with annexures and contains the recorded statements of over 40 witnesses. Raids were also conducted at the residences of IAS Sanjeev Jaiswal and Suraj Chavan, a core Yuva Sena member.
Patkar and BMC officer Kishore Bisure were arrested by the ED in July and are currently in judicial custody. While the contents of the chargesheet are not available yet, a lawyer linked to the case said the agency has named the arrested duo and three others. Patkar is accused of fraudulently bagging contracts from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for setting up or managing COVID-19 field hospitals—jumbo centres—in the city during the pandemic. Bisure was the dean of a centre at Dahisar. The ED has claimed that Lifeline Hospital Management Services, a partnership firm of Patkar, and three others received Rs 31.84 crore from the BMC for the supply of medical personnel to COVID-19 centres.
The firm, established in June 2020, was granted the contract despite not having any experience of providing medical personnel or services. During the remand hearing, following the duo’s arrest, the probe agency had told the court that Patkar had received a substantial amount of proceeds of crime from Lifeline in his personal bank account. It is further revealed that he played a crucial role in criminal activities and hatching conspiracy in connivance with other partners of Lifeline and BMC officials for obtaining tenders for supplying medical staff to Covid centres, the ED said. The agency said Patkar’s custodial interrogation revealed that he directed staff to carry out manipulation of attendance sheets and fraudulently raised bills to the civic body.
