MUMBAI: The state has ordered a departmental inquiry against a senior police officer in the case where new and powerful engines were removed from police speedboats and replaced with faulty, old ones, causing a loss of ₹7.23 crore to the state government.
The officer, Atul Patil, currently posted as deputy inspector general of police (DIG) with the Motor Transport (MT) department in Pune, was additional commissioner of police with the MT department in Mumbai, when the fraud took place in 2018-19.
Sources in the state government said the inquiry against Patil has been cleared by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also state home minister. The inquiry will begin after the state receives a copy of the chargesheet filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in September.
Asked to comment on the development, Patil told HT, “What is your interest in writing this? I don’t want to speak about this.’’
The case made headlines in January 2020, when a high-ranking Mumbai police officer, a part of the MT department, took a test ride in a police patrol boat in the Mumbai harbour. He found that the boat, which could hit a speed of 45 nautical miles per hour (about 83 kmph), was barely able to reach 10 nautical miles per hour. Intrigued, he checked the performance of the other 24 speedboats in the fleet – only three worked to specifications.
The boats had been acquired after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008, to enhance patrolling along the city’s coast. An investigation found that the powerful engines of many boats had been replaced with old, substandard ones.
A First Information Report (FIR) named two companies that held the maintenance contract for the upkeep of these boats. They were accused of perpetrating the fraud in connivance with government officials. Some of the officials from these companies have also been booked.
The case took many twists and turns. An initial inquiry was conducted by the Motor Transport Department, which found no lapses. In October 2020, then home minister Anil Deshmukh referred the matter to the State Intelligence Department (SID) and in January 2021, the state directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to take over the investigation. Accordingly, additional director general of police (ACB) Prabhat Kumar, submitted his report in March 2021. Eventually, an FIR was registered by the EOW in Mumbai, in April 2022.
According to the FIR, new engines had been replaced in 11 boats between 2018 and 2019, causing a loss of ₹7.23 crore to the state government.
The FIR named Goa Shipyard Pvt Ltd and two maintenance companies – Aquarius Shipyard Pvt ltd (sub-contracted by Goa Shipyard) and Brilliant Seagull Pvt Ltd.
“Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd … obtained the work order for engine maintenance and overhauling of the boats. Some of the companies did not even qualify to maintain the speed boats,” the FIR says.
”The companies, in the name of engine repair and maintenance, took the boats to their workshops and instead of buying the equipment from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), imported old engines and accessories and later installed the same in the boats. They, however, also charged the state government for new engines and accessories,” the FIR added.
The FIR also names Ratnakar Dandekar, managing director of Aquarius Shipyard, and other, unidentified officials and staff, as well as officials and staff of Goa Shipyard, that of Brilliant Seagull, and unidentified government officials.