Adarsh scam: Senior IAS officers sent to police custody

Mumbai: Senior IAS officers Jairaj Phatak and Ramanand Tiwari, who were on Tuesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), were remanded to police custody till April 12 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the court also rejected the bail accused of seven others accused on Wednesday.

Phatak, a senior IAS officer and Tiwari, Maharashtra's former information commissioner, were on Tuesday detained for questioning by the investigating agency.

Jairaj Phatak and Ramanand Tiwari were arrested by the CBI on Tuesday in connection with the Adarsh society scam.

Phatak is among the two serving IAS officers who were suspended for their alleged involvement in the Adarsh Housing Society scam. In its status report submitted to the Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra government said Phatak and another IAS officer Pradeep Vyas would be under suspension till completion of the investigations.

The CBI had alleged in its FIR filed on January 29 that Jairaj Phatak, during his tenure as BMC commissioner, had approved the height of the building to be increased from 97 metres to 107 metres on September 1, 2007.

The seven other accused who were arrested earlier are Pradeep Vyas, a suspended bureaucrat in Maharashtra government; Major General (Retd) TK Kaul; Major General (Retd) AR Kumar; Brigadier (Retd) MM Wanchoo; RC Thakur, a retired defence estates officer, PV Deshmukh, a former Deputy Secretary in the Urban Department and KL Gidwani, a promoter of Adarsh Housing Society.

Meanwhile, the judicial custody granted to the seven arrested has been extended till April 17.

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