ED: Bldr paid Vasai ex-civic chief, town planner 15cr bribe

Mumbai: A builder paid former Vasai-Virar civic chief Anil Pawar and deputy director of town planning Y S Reddy Rs 15 crore as bribe for clearances for various projects, ED has claimed. The two were arrested in Aug in a money laundering case linked to an alleged illegal construction and corruption racket and sent to jail custody.While seeking Reddy's custody again, the agency said both he and Pawar charged the builder Rs 30/sqft, seeking a bribe of Rs 4.3 crore, for one such project. It said an employee working under Reddy said he collected and delivered bribes under pressure and that major builders used to meet Pawar at his official residence. The employee submitted a list of 586 commencement certificates for buildings issued during Pawar and Reddy's tenure. It said an architect, in a recorded statement, said Reddy and Pawar accepted bribes to grant commencement certificates for various pending proposals and that he had negotiated and facilitated the payment of bribes to them through Reddy.ED told the court that Reddy needs to be confronted with the property documents gathered during the probe to determine their source of acquisition, along with many high-value transactions undertaken by him. Reddy's advocate said no new information had been revealed in the remand report to warrant extended custody and statements should not be considered for grant of ED custody. The court, however, said the grounds for further ED custody were sufficient and cogent and remanded Reddy in the agency's custody till Monday.ED had earlier seized Rs 8.6 crore in unaccounted cash and Rs 23.2 crore worth of jewellery during a search of Reddy's house prior to the arrests. Additionally, around Rs 1.3 crore in unaccounted cash belonging to Pawar was found at his relative's premises, along with several property documents. The agency had also collected evidence that a relative of Pawar in Dadar had received payment of a Rs 3.4-crore bribe in cash, believed to have been transported via an angadia. The money laundering case is based on multiple FIRs linked to the unauthorised construction of 41 residential and commercial buildings on govt and private land under the Vasai-Virar civic body. The buildings were razed following a recent court order.