On Thursday, 20th July 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) made significant progress in the investigation of the alleged scam at a Covid centre set up during the pandemic in Maharashtra, leading to the arrest of two key individuals connected to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.
The ED arrested Sujit Patkar, a close aide of Sanjay Raut, along with Dr Kishor Bisure, the academic dean who was in charge of the Dahisar Covid field hospital. The arrests were made in connection to a money laundering case linked to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) field hospital scam.
During the pandemic, the BMC constructed several field hospitals in Mumbai to treat Covid-19 patients. It is alleged that contracts for managing these field hospitals were awarded under political influence by BMC officials at inflated costs to ineligible entities. Among them was the Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS), formed by Sujit Patkar in 2020.
LHMS had secured the contract for managing the Dahisar Covid field hospital and received a payment of Rs 30 crore from the BMC. Shockingly, investigations revealed that only Rs 8 crore out of the allotted amount was utilised for the actual work. The remaining Rs 22 crore was allegedly diverted into shell companies and other accounts for personal use by LHMS.
The money trail was reportedly established by the ED, and it was found that LHMS had no prior experience in managing field hospitals. Despite this, the contract was awarded to them within a month of the company’s formation, raising suspicions of corruption and favouritism.
The ED’s money laundering case stemmed from an FIR filed at Azad Maidan police station. Subsequently, the agency decided to investigate the total expenditure of Rs 4,000 crore on Covid-related work during the pandemic. The statements of several contractors and builders were recorded by the agency, wherein they admitted to securing contracts through their influence.
The involvement of BMC officials is also under scrutiny as they allegedly played a role in the allocation of contracts to ineligible entities at inflated costs.
Sanjay Raut, in response to the allegations, maintained that Sujit Patkar was only his friend, while Dr Sujit Patkar clarified that he was one of the partners at Lifesciences Hospital and Management firm, which is owned by Hemant Gupta and registered under his clinic’s name in Worli.