- विज्ञापन -
Mumbai, May 15: ED, Mumbai has conducted search operations at 13 different locations across Mumbai and Hyderabad under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002 on 14.05.2025 &15.05.2025. The Search operation led to seizure of Rs. 9.04 Crore (approx.) cash and Rs. 23.25 Crore worth of diamond-studded Jewellery & Bullion and a large number of incriminating documents.
The agency said it seized approximately Rs 8.6 crore cash and Rs 23.25 crore worth diamond-studded jewellery and bullion from the house of Y S Reddy, deputy director of town planning, Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC).
Reddy was earlier arrested in April 2016 by the Thane unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly offering Rs 25 lakh to a Shiv Sena corporator to stop going ahead with court cases against him.
The money laundering investigation is based on multiple FIRs registered by the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police commissionerate against builders, local henchmen and others for “illegal construction of residential-cum-commercial buildings on government and private land” under the jurisdiction of VVMC since 2009. The documents seized during the raids reveal a large-scale scam involving illegal construction in the Vasai Virar area, with complicity from officials of VVMC, according to the ED.
Among the places raided by Zone 2 of ED Mumbai include the house of a former Bahujan Vikas Aghadi Party (BVA) corporator and an alleged criminal having links with a gangster.
What did the investigation reveal?
The ED investigation revealed that the large-scale illegal construction in the area has been going on since 2009.
“It has been found that the key perpetrators of the large-scale scam in the jurisdiction of Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation are Sitaram Gupta, Arun Gupta and others. Further, during the investigation, it has been found that these unauthorised/illegal buildings were constructed with the close connivance of various VVMC officials,” the ED statement said.
Further, various incriminating documents have been seized, which threw light on the massive scam of illegal construction at Vasai Virar area, in hand-in-glove with officials of VVMC.
