Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police has filed a chargesheet against Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd (ASPL), which had received a subcontract from Goa Shipyard Ltd for police boat maintenance, for allegedly removing original engines from 11 boats and installing on other boats, causing a loss of Rs 7.23 crore to the government.In 2022, the EOW had registered an offence on the allegations that the accused, under the pretext of repairing these boats, had replaced powerful engines of coastal patrolling boats with old and sub-standard engines.The company forged completion certificates of maintenance and submitted them to the department, falsely showing that replacement work had been carried out on the original vessels and fraudulent bills were raised, the chargesheet said. The accused also misrepresented imported engines and spare parts as belonging to the Maharashtra Police Department in order to secure waiver of customs duty, the chargesheet said.The chargesheet names Aquarius Shipyard Pvt. Ltd. (ASPL), its managing director Ratnakar Dandekar, director Monika Dandekar, among others, holding them responsible for a series of criminal acts committed between Jan 2018 and Jan 2019. Investigators found that ASPL removed original Evinrude engines from boats. The probe further showed that two boats — Mumbai-3 and Tarang — had engines in sound working condition and did not require repairs. Yet, ASPL coerced their transfer, removed engines from other boats, and reinstalled them under the guise of repairs.Following 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the Centre and the state had procured 57 patrol and interceptor boats to secure Maharashtra’s coastline. Their upkeep was entrusted to Goa Shipyard Ltd., which subcontracted work to private entities, including ASPL.In Aug 2020, irregularities came to light when discrepancies in engine installations were detected. The state directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau to conduct an inquiry. In March 2021, the ACB submitted its report confirming large-scale fraud in boat maintenance contracts and forwarded it to the Director General of Police for action. Based on these findings, a case was registered, and the probe was later transferred to the EOW.
