The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on Tuesday at approximately twelve premises linked to former Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) Commissioner Anil Pawar, his family, associates, and alleged benamidars in Virar, Mumbai, Nashik, and Pune, as part of a money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The probe targets a large-scale illegal construction scam involving 41 unauthorized residential-cum-commercial buildings on 60 acres of land reserved for a sewage treatment plant and dumping ground in Vasai Virar, as per the city’s approved development plan.

The investigation stems from multiple FIRs filed by the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar Police Commissionerate against builders, local henchmen, and VVCMC officials since 2009. The ED alleges that a cartel of architects, chartered accountants, liaison agents, and civic officials, including Pawar, colluded to fabricate approval documents, deceiving approximately 2,100 buyers into purchasing illegal units that were later demolished. The Bombay High Court ordered the demolition of these 41 buildings on July 8, 2024, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court, leading to their destruction on February 20, 2025, leaving many residents homeless.

Pawar, who was transferred to the Thane SRA department on Monday following an official farewell, is under scrutiny for his role in facilitating these constructions. Earlier raids in May targeted VVCMC’s deputy director of town planning, Y.S. Reddy, yielding ₹8.6 crore in cash and ₹23.25 crore in diamond-studded jewelry and bullion, with Reddy later suspended for disproportionate assets. A second round in July froze ₹12.71 crore in bank deposits and mutual funds and seized ₹26 lakh in cash, alongside incriminating digital devices revealing a “close nexus” between VVCMC officials and the cartel.

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The ED’s findings point to systemic corruption, with forged documents enabling illegal sales despite prior demolitions of 168 buildings and 74 chawl rooms on the same land between 2009 and 2011. Key perpetrators, including Sitaram Gupta and Arun Gupta, have been identified, with evidence suggesting Pawar’s complicity during his tenure. The raids, which also covered premises of architects and middlemen, underscore the scale of the scam, with ongoing investigations likely to implicate more officials.

Maharashtra’s opposition, including Congress leader Kuldeep Vartak, has hailed the ED’s actions, citing long-standing concerns over entrenched corruption in VVCMC’s town planning department, where 19 staff were transferred in May following Reddy’s case. Vartak had previously flagged prolonged tenures violating the 2005 transfer act, a concern that prompted Pawar to initiate departmental reforms before his transfer. As the probe deepens, it raises questions about accountability in one of Maharashtra’s largest civic bodies.

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