Covid body bag scam: Ex-Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar questioned for over 6 hours by ED

She was asked if she had made calls to concerned people involved in the alleged fraud, to which she denied having made any calls, agency sources said.

After long questioning, when Pednekar came out of the ED’s building, she said, “I was summoned today by the agency. They had called me for an inquiry. I am not an accused, and there are no allegations against me. The agency had sought some documents, which I will submit. I am cooperating. As a mayor, I completed my responsibility, which was required at that time. The agency wanted to know the situation and details, so I shared everything with them.’

The ED’s money laundering case is based on a criminal case filed by Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

On August 4, the EOW filed an FIR against Pednekar, a former additional municipal commissioner (projects), a former deputy municipal commissioner (purchase/CPD), private contractor Vedanta Innotech Pvt Ltd (VIPL) and other unknown government officials in the alleged scam involving the purchase of body bags at inflated rates during the pandemic. The amount involved in the alleged fraud has been estimated to be around Rs 49.63 lakh.

The private company under the scanner had allegedly supplied body bags for deceased Covid-19 patients to the BMC at Rs 6,719 a piece, which was over three times what it had charged other private hospitals or government authorities (Rs 1,500 per piece) during the same period, an earlier ED inquiry had revealed.

Pednekar and other senior civic officials were booked under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant or by a banker, merchant, or agent), 420 (cheating), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The EOW had registered the case based on a complaint by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya on July 18 alleging irregularities in the BMC’s expenditure during the pandemic.

The EOW FIR states that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to favour M/s Vedanta Innotech Pvt Ltd (VIPL) and its directors and defrauded the BMC. The accused allegedly committed criminal breach of trust with regard to public money to the tune of Rs 49,63,200.

Earlier, Pednekar was questioned by the EOW in the case.

The ED also questioned IAS officer and Additional Municipal Commissioner (projects) P Velarasu for more than six hours in the same case earlier this month.

He was in charge of the central purchase department (CPD) that was responsible for making Covid-related purchases during the pandemic outbreak.