Local Shiv Sena MLA and former Maharashtra minister Suresh Jain has been arrested in connection with 2006 Gharkul Housing Scheme scam.
Jain, who was a Minister for Housing during the Shiv Sena-BJP rule in the 1990s, has been arrested for allegedly favouring a builder and indulging in irregularities to the tune of Rs 29 crore, poilce said on Sunday.
He was arrested at around midnight at Dharangaon in the district while he was going to his brother-in-law's place in Indore. As per preliminary investigations, Jain had indulged in irregularities to the tune of Rs 29 crore and had favoured Khandesh Builders, a firm that was given a contract for constructing tenements under the Gharkul housing scheme, sources in the local crime branch said.
Tenders had been floated even before the land was acquired for the housing scheme, they said.
Former municipal commissioner of Jalgaon Pravin Gedam had registered a complaint in this connection in 2006.
Police officer Ishu Sindhu was given the charge of the probe. So far, four persons, including former mayor of Jalgaon Pradip Raisoni, director of Khandesh Builders Major Nana Wani, one Raja Mayoor and the former chief officer of Jalgaon Municipal Council P D Kale, have been arrested in January in this connection and are presently in Jalgaon jail.
Following the arrests, Suresh Jain had been quizzed for four hours on February 3 along with the district guardian minister Gulabrao Deokar. Jain's arrest came after police acquired some case- related documents from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) office in Mumbai on Friday.
Out of the 5,000 tenements to be developed under the housing scheme on the outskirts of Jalgaon, only about 1,500 have been completed so far, the sources said.
Jain had filed a defamation case against social activist Anna Hazare, when latter levelled allegations of corruption against him. The case is still pending.