Overview

• Anil Pawar, Y S Reddy and builders Sitaram and Arun Gupta were arrested on August 13 and remanded to judicial custody until September 3, with the ED reserving the right to seek further custody.
• The ED alleges a fixed-rate cartel that approved 55,043,263.59 sq ft of construction, estimating kickbacks above Rs 275 crore and citing codeword-based collections involving officials, architects and liaisoners.
• Investigators told the PMLA court that proceeds were moved out via hawala and angadia channels and reintroduced through relatives’ accounts, with indications of euro and dollar-linked transactions.
• Searches recovered Rs 1.33 crore from a relative’s Nashik home and, at Reddy’s premises, Rs 8.6 crore in cash plus gold and jewellery worth Rs 23.25 crore, along with records of alleged shell companies.
• Pawar’s lawyers say the 41 buildings were sanctioned and built before his 2022 tenure, claim he initiated demolitions, deny any money trail to him and plan to challenge the legality of his arrest.