The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has started scrutinising the land records of the Adarsh Cooperative housing society, which was handed over to the agency by the revenue department of the Maharashtra government two days ago.
According to sources, the scrutiny of the land records of the society, running into hundreds of pages, is expected to establish how and where the violation of the land use actually took place.
Sources further said, “The CBI had earlier initiated suo motu action in connection with various allegations pertaining to the society but has not got any cooperation so far from bureaucrats and politicians. Despite repeated reminders by the agency officials, there was no cooperation from those who are suspected to be part of the violation at all.” The agency will start its full-fledged enquiry into the scam, once the probe is notified by the department of personnel and training (DoPT), sources added.
“The revenue records provided by the department concerned to the CBI is being scrutinised. There are reports that the land belongs to the state government. There are also reports that the land was reserved for war veterans of Kargil heroes. Agency will question certain officials of the Maharashtra government as well as politicians also in this regard,” sources said.
If required the CBI will also consult the Army and Navy personnel in connection with its probe, sources said, adding that both the Navy and Army have reportedly conducted their own internal inquiry respectively. The agency will also probe the manner in which occupation certificate was issued to the occupants of the society by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), sources said.
However, recently MMRDA has been asked to revoke the occupation certificate issued to society members, sources added.