CBI arrests 4 in Adarsh scam
Making the first arrests in the case, the CBI on Tuesday arrested the four main accused in the Adarsh society scam. The accused Congress MLC Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, R.C. Thakur, a retired defence estates officer, Brigadier (retired) M.M. Wanchoo and P.V. Deshmukh, a former deputy secretary in the state urban development department.
All the four are among 14 people named in the FIR registered by the CBI in January last year. The action of the CBI comes barely two days ahead of another hearing before the Bombay high court, which in its last hearing, had hit out at the CBI for its failure to act against the high and the mighty.
While Deshmukh was the first arrested from Pune, by afternoon both Wanchu and Thakur were also arrested. Gidwani who got bail in the bribery case for which he was arrested by CBI earlier, was re-arrested in the main case by evening.
“We have arrested the accused and their questioning is on,” said a senior CBI official.
The CBI was slammed on March 12 by the Bombay HC for not arresting “any of the high-profile” people involved in the case in spite of having enough evidence against them. “ If there is prima facie evidence against some people, why are you shying away from taking action? Why are you not arresting such persons,” questioned the bench led by Justice P.B. Majmudar and Justice R.D. Dhanuka. The CBI’s action against the four were expected as the investigating agency had to face the HC again on Thursday, the CBI believes that the four played key roles in the scam. The key player was Deshmukh, who was then posted as deputy secretary in the urban development department.
in the state allegedly gave an NOC from the Union environment ministry to construct the building when no such permission was given. While the Union ministry had instructed the government to ensure that the housing complex was to be built as per the rules of Coastal Regulation Zone norms, Deshmukh interpreted this as a NOC from the centre to build the building.
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