The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday launched a fresh probe into the murder of whistleblower Satish Shetty, conducting raids and searches at 21 offices of the Mumbai-based Ideal Road Builders (IRB) Infrastructure Developers Limited across Mumbai, Pune and Lonavala.
According to sources, the CBI is re-investigating the complaint of massive land-grab filed by slain RTI activist against Virendra Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director of IRB.
Satish was hacked to death outside his home in Talegaon in January 2010. He had lodged a complaint with the Lonavala city police against 13 people, including Mhaiskar and a sub-registrar, on October 15, 2009, accusing the company and its subsidiary, Aryan Infrastructure Investment Pvt. Ltd., of acquiring nearly 1,100 acres of government and private land in Maval Taluk by forging documents and manipulating land records.
“The raid has come of a surprise and we welcome the agency’s efforts. We hope for a definitive conclusion of the case this time and not a rude closure like that in August,” said Sandeep Shetty, Satish’s brother.
In August last year, speculation was rife that the CBI was under tremendous political pressure after the investigating agency suddenly submitted a closure report on the case at a local court here, and sparking outrage and disbelief among activists and Satish’s kin. The charge-sheet, which ran to a labyrinthine 10,000 pages, failed to name any killers.
The IRB group was alleged to have extended huge unsecured loans to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s Purti Sugar and Power Pvt. Ltd. The company had scuppered plans to develop a mega township near Kamshet off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway after it came under the scanner for its alleged involvement in Satish’s murder.
The case was transferred to the CBI on April 6, 2010 after Sandeep Shetty moved the Bombay High Court. In August 2014, Sandeep had again moved the High Court following the CBI’s closure report.
The Court had directed the CBI to re-investigate complaint saying it was “in the interests of justice.”
The raids saw the IRB’s share price plummet sharply to 10.5 per cent intraday after news of the CBI raids clouded investor sentiment.
