Mumbai:
The CBI on Tuesday arrested four people, including former Maharashtra Congress legislator Kanhaiyalal V. Gidwani, his son, a tax consultant and a lawyer of the probe agency, in a graft case linked to the Adarsh society scam investigation, an official said.
All accused were presented before a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special judge and remanded to police custody till March 16.
Mr Gidwani is accused of paying a sum of Rs.12.50 million to financial consultant J.K. Jagiasi to pay up and influence CBI officials investigating the Adarsh housing society case.
Mr Gidwani is one of the original chief promoters of the society. He and his family owned three flats in the controversial Adarsh housing society's 31-storey building in Colaba in south Mumbai, the official said.
According to the CBI, Mr Jagiasi paid a bribe of Rs.2.50 million to CBI counsel Mandar Goswamy, earlier a special counsel in the state law department.
Kailash K. Gidwani, son of the former legislator, was also nabbed for alleged involvement in the bribery case.
Last September, the Congress leader faced a two-member commission probing the Adarsh society scam.
During his deposition, Mr Gidwani said that he had undertaken the sole responsibility to get the additional floor space index for the Adarsh society building, using his political connections and clout.
The scam claimed the job of former chief minister Ashok Chavan after allegations surfaced of collusion between bureaucrats and politicians to corner flats in the building. The flats were originally meant for widows and heroes of the Kargil conflict.