A day after filing the First Information Report in the Adarsh housing society scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday conducted raids on office and residential premises of five main accused in Maharashtra and Bihar. The office of the society at Colaba here was also raided.
Senior CBI officials confirmed that the raids were conducted on the premises of Brigadier (retired) M.M. Wanchu; Congress leader Kanhaiyalal Gidwani; and the society's chief promoter R.C. Thakur.
The agency also raided the retired IAS officer, Ramanand Tiwari's house in Mumbai and the former Deputy Secretary of the Urban Development department, P.V. Deshmukh's house in Thane. “All the five have been named as the main accused in the FIR,” a senior CBI official told The Hindu.
The CBI conducted raids on Brigadier Wanchu's house in Pune, two houses of Mr. Gidwani in Mumbai and three premises of Mr. Thakur in Maharashtra and Bihar.
In a statement, the CBI said material and documents were seized during the raids in Pune, Mumbai and Bihar. “Searches were mainly conducted on the premises of the office-bearers of the society to seize documents not produced by them,” the statement read.
CBI sources told The Hindu that eight files and two hard disks were seized from Mr. Thakur's Thane premises.
Highly placed sources confirmed that the FIR had named the former Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan.
Those named in the FIR were Mr. Chavan, Mr. Tiwari, Mr. Thakur, Mr. Gidwani, Brigadier Wanchu, Mr. Deshmukh, Pradeep Vyas, Subhash Lalla, Major General (retired) A.R. Kumar, Major General (retired) T.K. Kaul, Brigadier (retired) R.C. Sharma, Lieutenant General (retired) P.K. Rampal and Colonel (retired) P.K. Sinha.
Mr. Lalla, a retired IAS officer, was the former Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department. He was also the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister from March 2004. After his name figured in the scam, he was asked to step down as the member of the State Human Rights Commission. He resigned early this month.
Mr. Tiwari, also a retired IAS officer, was suspended as the Maharashtra Information Commissioner by the Governor a few days ago after he refused to resign. The Governor has already referred his name to the Supreme Court for his removal.
The other high-ranking bureaucrats figuring in the FIR are Mr. Deshmukh, who was the Deputy Secretary in the Urban Development Department, and Mr. Vyas, the then Collector of Mumbai.
Mr. Chavan, who had to quit as the Chief Minister after his name emerged in the scam, was the then Revenue Minister. It was alleged that he signed a letter allowing the inclusion of civilians in the Society meant for Kargil war heroes and their families.
The FIR also mentioned Mr. Thakur, who was a defence estate official. He is the chief promoter of the Adarsh society.
The FIR has named senior retired defence officials Major Generals (retired) A.R. Kumar and T.K. Kaul and Lieutenant General (retired) P.K. Rampal.
No-objection certificate
The defence officials have been accused of granting no-objection certificate for the construction of the building by claiming that the land was not in possession of the Army.
The CBI will submit a copy of the FIR to the Bombay High Court on February 1 in response to public interest litigation petitions filed in connection with the scam.
