ED summons former Mayor Kishori Pednekar UBT faction leader on Nov 8 in Covid body bag scam case:
ED summons former Mayor Kishori Pednekar UBT faction leader on Nov 8 in Covid body bag scam case:
In a fresh development, the Enforcement Directorate(ED) has summoned former Mumbai Mayor and Uddhav Thackeray faction leader Kishori Pednekar on November 8 in the Covid body bag scam case.
ED has also summoned BMC Additional Commissioner
P Velarasu on Tuesday.
According to Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation claim, a company was giving body bags for dead Covid patients to another company for ₹2,000 and that company in turn was supplying the same body bags to the Central Procurement Department for ₹6,800 and this contract was signed by the then-BMC mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, Kishori Pednekar.
A case was also registered by the Mumbai police against Pednekar.
Earlier, Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) summoned the former Deputy Commissioner of the BMC’s Central Purchase Department (CPD), Ramakant Biradar, to probe into the allegations of irregularities involved in purchasing body bags for deceased COVID-19 patients
Reportedly, EOW had registered a case against Kishori Pednekar of Shiv Sena (UBT) faction and two senior officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under various Indian Penal Code sections including 420 (cheating) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), based on a complaint filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
As per allegations, there was a misappropriation of funds and irregularities in the management of health facilities and purchase of body bags for deceased coronavirus patients, masks and other items by the BMC during the pandemic.
Pednekar was Mumbai mayor from November 2019 till March 2022.
In her pre-arrest bail plea, it was Pednekar’s claim that she was falsely implicated in the case and the complaint against her was politically motivated.
She also claimed that the case was lodged only after the split in the Shiv Sena party and that she is being targeted as she belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray faction.
In June this year, the Enforcement Directorate raided 15 locations in Mumbai in connection with BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) Covid-19 centres scam. The ED officials seized ₹68.65 lakh in cash and documents of properties worth crores.
Reports reveal per the anti-money laundering agency recovered documents of 50 immovable properties located at various places in Maharashtra with a market value of more than ₹150 crore, fixed deposits and investments worth ₹15 crore, and jewellery worth ₹2.46 crore.
ED had also seized several mobile phones and laptops along with many incriminating documents.
The ED on their search revealed that one company was giving body bags for dead COVID-19 patients to another company for ₹2,000 and that company was supplying the same body bags to the Central Procurement Department for ₹6,800. This contract was signed by the then BMC Mayor Pednekar.
News Edit K.V.Raman
