Ordnance depot land sale: Top General moots CBI probe
A top Army General has recommended to the defence ministry that the CBI probe the sale of a one-acre prime plot in suburban Malad, leased by the Army from the Maharashtra government, which in turn sold it to a firm floated by a leading builder.
A top Army General has recommended to the defence ministry that the CBI probe the sale of a one-acre prime plot in suburban Malad, leased by the Army from the Maharashtra government, which in turn sold it to a firm floated by a leading builder.
"The ordnance depot land was on hire with us. There was no reason why this land should have been sold to a builder unless we had cleared it," Lt Gen Pradeep Khanna, GOC-in-C Southern Command, said.
"We found this out sometime back after a detailed inquiry. My recommendation to the ministry has been that the case should be handed over to CBI," General Khanna told reporters after an investiture ceremony in Colaba area here.
The land was occupied by the Central Ordnance Depot (COD) since 1942. In 2007, the state government sold the land to Neo-Pharma Pvt Ltd, a part of the Kalpataru Builders group, for about Rs 6 crore without army's consent.
On the Adarsh housing scam, the General said, "The Southern Command has done its inquiry. We did an internal fresh research on this piece of land. We went back to the maps of 1844 when Colaba was just an island and it was called a military island."
"All this land belonged to the defence forces. It was not a part of the reclamation. This search has been given to the CBI which is doing an inquiry. I have read in media that they (CBI) have accepted our new research," he said.
Action will be taken against all people who have done wrong in the matter, he said. The Ministry of Defence is fully in the picture and it will be ensured that anyone who has done wrong will be brought to book, he said.