MUMBAI, July 31 -- Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources on Wednesday claimed that former Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) commissioner Anil Pawar, an IAS officer, was responsible for organising an alleged 'cartel' of civic officers, architects, chartered accountants and intermediaries which set in motion the large-scale illegal constructions in the region. The ED sources' claims came a day after its Mumbai unit conducted searches at 12 locations in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik, at the homes of Pawar and his relatives and associates, with one search allegedly yielding Rs.1.33 crore in cash. The ED action was part of its investigation into the construction of 41 illegal buildings in Vasai East, which were demolished as per court orders in February. The cartel allegedly comprised Pawar, Y S Reddy, a former deputy director in the town-planning department and several junior engineers among others. The investigation revealed that allegedly after Pawar became VVCMC commissioner, the "commission" or bribe amount paid by those seeking approval of building plans was fixed at Rs.20-25 per square feet for Pawar, and Rs.10 per square feet for Reddy, ED sources said. The per-square-foot bribe rate was reported by HT earlier. The Tuesday searches were based on revelations by several suspects and witnesses earlier questioned by the ED and chats found in their mobile phones. The ED sources said these were currently being verified. Apart from the cash found in the search operations, a large number of incriminating documents and devices such as property documents and cheque deposit slips, were recovered, which allegedly revealed that Pawar had created a number of entities in the name of his family members, relatives and benami-daars to launder the bribe amounts, the ED sources said. "The formation of such shell entities coincided with his posting as VVCMC commissioner," said an ED source. "A huge amount of cash related to the construction business, whether redevelopment of residential towers, construction of warehouses or other projects, went into these shell entities." The digital devices seized during the search operations also allegedly revealed Pawar's close involvement in creating the suspected cartel. "This threw light on the extent of the corruption and black money flowing into the VVCMC for construction approvals," the ED source said. The ED's earlier search operations had led to a cash seizure of around Rs.8.94 crore, diamond jewellery and bullion worth Rs.23.25 crore and bank balances/ shares/ mutual funds/ fixed deposits worth Rs.13.86 crore. The 41 illegal buildings were built on a 60-acre plot in Vasai East, 30 acres of which was reserved for civic projects. The Mira-Bhayandar police registered multiple cases against builders and local henchmen in connection with their construction, based on which the ED registered an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) and commenced its probe. Despite knowing that the buildings were unauthorised and would eventually be demolished, the builders sold the apartments to poor, gullible customers-mostly migrant workers and shopkeepers-by fabricating a range of approval documents, said the ED....