Mithi river scam: Bollywood, politics and Mumbaikar's distress

A scam related to the project has been unearthed, in which Dino Morea, a Bollywood personality, is being investigated. The case has also taken a political turn.

Till 26 July 2005, not many Mumbaikars knew that a river flowed through the heart of the city. The river, named Mithi, was an antithesis of its name. Mithi in Hindi means sweet, but on that fateful day, it gave a bitter experience to the residents of Mumbai. The city was cut off from the world due to a deluge that flooded the river. Although that deluge was an unprecedented event that caused havoc in the city, the Mithi River becomes a source of distress for Mumbai every year during the monsoon. To address this, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation launched a project to clean and desilt the river. A scam related to the project has been unearthed, in which Dino Morea, a Bollywood personality, is being investigated. The case has also taken a political turn.

Dino Morea played a cop in a 2003 movie named Sssshhh…, where he investigated a series of murders. Twenty-two years later, the real cops are confronting him. This week, Morea has been questioned twice by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police. On Monday, he and his brother Santino were interrogated for over eight hours; on Wednesday, for six. The cops suspect their role in the multi-crore Mithi River scam, in which two persons have been arrested so far. The duo has come under the police lens due to their monetary transactions with the arrested accused.

The Mithi River, which originates from Powai and travels 18 kilometres through the suburbs, merges with the Arabian Sea at Mahim. It has been extensively polluted by slums on its banks and the disposal of industrial waste. This has impacted the river’s flow and depth, hindering stormwater disposal during the monsoon and causing floods. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation had given contracts to several contractors to desilt the Mithi River. However, the contractors, in connivance with some middlemen and corrupt BMC officers, siphoned off over Rupees 65 crore without doing any substantial work.

They submitted fake bills for the work allegedly undertaken and forged the signatures of people whose land they claimed to have used for dumping the silt. In some cases, the signatures of deceased landowners were also produced. A large amount of money was extracted on the pretext of purchasing machinery. Investigators have found that the ill-gotten money was used to fund trips of senior officials to exotic destinations.

The EOW of the Mumbai Police has arrested Ketan Kadam and Jai Joshi, who they believe are the key conspirators. Ketan Kadam is associated with a company named Vodar India. The Worli address of Vodar India is also the address of UBO Ridez, an electric cart company in which Morea is a director. The cops are investigating the bank accounts of both Moreas and the arrested accused. According to the police, there are over five suspicious transactions between Kadam and Morea. So far, thirteen people, including contractors and BMC engineers, have been named as accused in the case. Although a fraud of only ₹66 crore has come to light so far, the total value of the contracts under investigation is over ₹1,100 crore. Based on the FIR filed by the Mumbai Police, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also launched its investigation.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam has demanded that Aaditya Thackeray be probed in the case. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief leader and Worli MLA Aaditya is a close friend of Dino Morea. Nirupam said that Dino and Aaditya party together and that Aaditya had previously awarded gymnasium contracts to Dino. However, neither the EOW nor the ED has taken cognizance of Nirupam’s allegations.