Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached three land parcels at Uran and Ulwe in Navi Mumbai, worth around Rs 17.74 crore, belonging to local politician J M Mhatre and his wife in a money laundering case involving the alleged illegal acquisition of forest land, its unlawful transfer to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and wrongful claims of land compensation from the govt authority.When contacted, J M Mhatre said he was unaware of the development.The ED said the Maharashtra govt acquired the land, which originally belonged to the Nizam, in 1975 under the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act. Subsequently, in the land record 7/12 extract, the Maharashtra forest department was entered as the owner. The ED said the mutation entries of the subject land, measuring about 376 acres, were tampered with, and the owner’s name, forest department, was illegally replaced with that of the accused.The ED said some parcels of land were illegally sold to NHAI, for which the accused received illegal compensation of Rs 42.4 crore. The money was utilised to acquire immovable property, repay loans, and cover the business expenses of companies associated with J M Mhatre and his family members.The ED is investigating J M Mhatre of J M Mhatre Infrastructure and Saiyyed Mohammad Abdul Hamid Qadri in the case.Last year, the ED searched multiple locations across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai in the case and seized unaccounted cash of Rs 16.5 lakh. It also froze bank balances, fixed deposits, and mutual funds totalling approximately Rs 43.78 crore. The ED also attached 5 properties worth Rs 7.1 crore in the case earlier.
