Mumbai:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a serving bureaucrat in the Maharashtra government, the first in the case, and two retired Major Generals in connection with the Adarsh Housing Society scam. With this, the number of arrests made so far in the case has gone up to seven.
Pradeep Vyas, who is currently working as Secretary (Expenditure) in the Department of Finance in the state government, was the Collector of Mumbai when the scam unravelled. He handled the allotment of flats in the housing society and is accused of accepting ineligible memberships and false documents as proof of invoice. Incidentally, his wife, Seema Vyas, was also one of the beneficiaries of the illegal 104-apartment society.
The Adarsh society was originally meant to be a six-storey structure meant to house Kargil War heroes and their relatives. But it was later extended to 31 floors allegedly without mandatory permission. Investigations later revealed that politicians, senior bureaucrats and retired Army officers colluded to corner flats in this society situated in one of the posh stretches in Mumbai.
The two retired Army officers who were also arrested today are Major General (Retd) T K Kaul and Major General (Retd) A R Kumar. Major General Kumar, who was arrested in Hyderabad, will be produced in a 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 a hearing on March 12.
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.