BMC deputy municipal commissioner appears before Mumbai Police EOW in Covid scam

The Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Zone-2, Ramakant Biradar, Saturday morning appeared before the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and joined a probe in connection with an FIR the agency has filed to probe the alleged irregularities involved in purchasing body bags for deceased Covid-19 patients.

Biradar, who was in charge of the civic body’s central purchase department during the pandemic, was recently summoned to remain present before the EOW officials.Earlier, Biradar’s statement had been recorded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as a part of its probe into various alleged irregularities in the BMC’s functioning during the Covid pandemic period.On August 4, the EOW filed an FIR against ex-mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar, a former additional municipal commissioner (projects) and a former deputy municipal commissioner (purchase/CPD), private contractor Vedanta Innotech Pvt Ltd (VIPL) and other unknown government servants in an alleged scam involving the purchase of body bags at inflated rates during the pandemic. The amount involved in the alleged fraud has been mentioned at around Rs 49.63 lakh.