India, July 18 -- A sessions court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to contractor Lokesh Onkarlal Jain, an accused in the alleged Rs.65-crore Mithi river desilting scam, holding that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had failed to make out a prima facie case requiring his custodial interrogation.

Jain, a partner of Bhumika Transport, is accused of using forged machine-hire agreements, fabricated MOUs for dumping sites, fake transport records and manipulated photographs to fraudulently obtain Rs.24.49 crore from the BMC for desilting work between 2023 and 2024.

He was named a wanted accused during the investigation, though not initially in the FIR.

Granting relief, the additional sessions judge N.G. Shukla held that the prosecution's ...