While searches at Adarsh housing society general secretary R.C. Thakur’s residences in Bihar, Nagpur and Thane are over, the operations at state information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari’s house in Mumbai continued till late on Sunday evening. Retired Brigadier M.M. Wanchoo’s house in Pune and Gidwani’s house at Worli were also searched, the official added.
According to CBI sources, Thakur, Wanchoo and Gidwani were allegedly the prime movers in building the society, sources said. Thakur was the then sub-divisional officer at the defence estate office of Mumbai while Gidwani, a former Congress MLC, was the chief promoter of the society.
The others named in the FIR are Major General A.R. Kumar (Retd), Brigadier R.C. Sharma (Retd.), Major General T.K. Kaul , former GOC, Mumbai area, Lieutenant General P.K. Rampal, Lieutenant General T.K. Sinha and IAS officers Pradeep Vyas (former collector, Mumbai), Subhash Lala (former chief secretary in the CM office) and R.M. Tiwari, P.V. Deshmukh (officer in the urban development ministry).
The FIR has been filed under various sections of IPC, including criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery and showing a forged document as genuine besides sections pertaining to Prevention of Corruption Act.
Meanwhile, Gidwani, the prime accused in the scam on Sunday denied being the promoter of the society. “I am not the promoter of the Adarsh society as has been reported in some sections of the media but only a member,” Gidwani said here, accepting that he owned three flats in the society.
Welcoming the searches at his residences Gidwani said, “I have been saying for the past two months that any investigative agency is welcome to conduct a probe in this regard.”