Key Takeaways
- The Uddhav Thackeray trusted officer Ramesh Pawar was appointed to link the SIT with the BMC.
- Rs 12,000 crore irregularities in municipal contracts prompted a CAG report and a SIT probe.
- The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is overseeing the investigation under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Mumbai: The Bombay Municipal Corporation has appointed Ramesh Pawar, the joint commissioner of its improvement department.
He will serve as a coordinator between the special investigation team (SIT) and the civic body to probe the alleged Rs 12,000 crore irregularities.
The allegation of irregularities was reported by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde last month ordered the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to form the SIT for the probe.
Pawar is considered a trusted officer of Uddhav Thackeray and was elevated as Nashik municipal commissioner when the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader was chief minister.
However, when the Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government was formed, Pawar was again demoted and brought to Mumbai at the earlier post.
Appointing him as a coordinating officer in a key probe has now raised many eyebrows.
Pawar was looking after the COVID-19 administration’s work during all the earlier pandemic waves.
The agency will procure all the required documents from Pawar so as to coordinate with other departments.
As part of this new job profile, Pawar visited the EOW office on Wednesday and met with officers.
The CAG submitted a report to the government, which figured out alleged irregularities worth thousands of crores in several contracts given by the BMC during the pandemic.
