EOW questions Bollywood actor Dino Morea, brother in Mithi river desilting scam

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Dino Morea and his brother were on Wednesday questioned by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police in the alleged Rs 65 crore Mithi river desilting scam, officials said. This is the second time in the last three days that the actor was called for questioning, a police official said. Morea and his brother Santino appeared before EOW officials at the Mumbai Police Commissioner's office in south Mumbai and their statements were being recorded, he said.

Among other things, the brothers were being questioned about their alleged links with middleman Ketan Kadam, arrested in the case along with another accused Jai Joshi, the official said. As per the preliminary probe, Dino Morea and his brother had repeated phone conversations with Kadam, the official said, adding the EOW team also found some suspicious transactions of the arrested accused and were probing if the actor had any role in these transactions. Kadam and Joshi were involved in the renting out of `silt pusher' machines and multipurpose amphibious pontoon machines to contractors who were carrying out Mithi river desilting work in the city. Earlier this month, the EOW registered a case against 13 persons including civic officials and contractors for their alleged involvement in a scam concerning the desilting of the river which flows through the city and drains into the Arabian Sea. It is alleged that tenders for renting specialised dredging equipment were manipulated to favour certain suppliers.