Illegal forest land acquisition case: ED freezes assets worth Rs 44 crore in raids on properties of contractor JM Mhatre
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen bank balances, fixed deposits and mutual funds to the tune of approximately Rs 44 crore and seized cash amounting to Rs 16.5 lakh after raiding the properties belonging to contractor J M Mhatre of J M Mhatre Infrastructure Private Limited in Dadar and Panvel on Tuesday in connection with the money laundering case linked to the alleged illegal acquisition of forest land in Navi Mumbai.
Apart from this, a large number of incriminating documents have also been seized by ED, the central agency stated on Wednesday.
The search operation was aimed at unearthing the land scam and tracing the proceeds of the crime, ED said.
Mhatre, a long-time member of the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), has previously served as the chairperson of the Panvel Municipal Council, prior to its upgrade to a municipal corporation. Having spent the majority of his political career with the PWP, Mhatre made a significant shift in May this year when he, along with his son, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of BJP working president Ravindra Chavan and Cabinet Minister Ashish Shelar.
The central agency's case against Mhatre is based on the complaint filed by the range forest officer of the Forest Department in Uran under the Alibagh division in September 2024 at the Panvel Police Station.
As per the Panvel police's FIR, the accused illegally acquired the government forest land by making a duplicate entry in the mutation in 2005.
According to ED, the case against Mhatre and Saiyyed Mohammad Abdul Hamid Qadri pertains to the illegal acquisition of forest land and its subsequent illegal transfer to NHAI and the wrong claim of land compensation by the accused. The land in question is at Survey Numbers 427/1 (area 41.70 hectares) and 436/1 (area 110.60 hectares) of Mauje Vahal, Taluka Panvel, Dist-Raigad (subject land).
ED stated in a release that their investigation has revealed that the said land was acquired by the Government of Maharashtra in 1975 under relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act, 1975, and thereafter the name of the owner in the 7/12 extract was changed to the Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra. Subsequently, the mutation entry of the subject land has been tampered with, and the owner name, viz. Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra, was replaced with that of the accused illegally.
Some parcels of land were illegally sold to NHAI, for which Mhatre received illegal compensation of Rs 42.4 crore and Qadri received illegal compensation of Rs 9.69 crore. This pertains to the alleged illegal acquisition of forest land and its subsequent illegal transfer to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the ED stated.
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