Three accused in Adarsh case get CBI custody till March 31

Three former government employees, including retired Defence Estates Officer, RC Thakur and Brigadier (retd) MM Wanchoo, arrested yesterday in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, were today remanded to CBI custody till March 31.

Thakur, Wanchoo and former Deputy Secretary in Maharashtra Urban Development Department PV Deshmukh were produced before special CBI judge MV Kulkarni on Wednesday.

Their arrests followed a censure by the Bombay High Court of CBI for not taking action against those who were allegedly involved in the scam.

The accused have been arrested under the provisions of IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act and Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, said CBI special prosecutor Ejaz Khan.

Seeking their custody, CBI said investigation was at a crucial stage. The accused were a part of the larger conspiracy and the agency had to ascertain the bribe amounts as well as the corruption trail, it said.

According to the agency's plea, Thakur had conspired with officers of Defence Services, promoter of Adarsh Housing Society KL Gidwani, and officers of state government to get the plot (on which Adarsh Society came up) which was in the possession of the Army for long.

The accused "manipulated and fabricated records to achieve the objective of getting land allotted in favour of Adarsh", it said.

"In lieu of this abuse of their official position, they obtained for themselves and close relatives, property rights over flats in illegal manner at a very low cost compared to market value for pecuniary advantage," the remand application said.