Hyderabad:
A retired Major General was today arrested from Hyderabad in connection with the Adarsh housing society scam. Major General (Retired) AR Kumar will be produced in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the city tomorrow.
Just yesterday, four people, including a former Congressman, a government official and a retired Army Brigadier, were arrested by the CBI in connection with the scam.
The arrests come less than two weeks after the Bombay High Court pulled up the CBI for not arresting those accused in the case. "Why have you (the CBI) not arrested any of the accused
yet? Are you feeling shy or are you just protecting the accused? If prima facie case is made out against anyone, then action should be taken irrespective of who that person is. Delay in such cases can be dangerous," the court had observed during the March 12 hearing.
The Adarsh Housing Society in south Mumbai's Colaba area was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil War heroes and their kin. But it was later extended to 31 floors allegedly without mandatory permission.
Investigations suggest that politicians, retired Army officers and senior bureaucrats colluded to corner flats in the building.
The scam cost former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan his job. Three of his relatives were allotted flats in the high-rise. Union Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh, who are both former Maharashtra Chief Ministers, are also under the scanner.