CBI raids IAS officer in Adarsh housing scam

The CBI on Tuesday carried out searches at the premises of IAS officer Jairaj Phatak in Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune in connection with the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam.

The CBI on Tuesday carried out searches at the premises of IAS officer Jairaj Phatak in Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune in connection with the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam.

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Sources said the CBI teams searched the official residence and office of Phathak in New Delhi and also his Mumbai residence, where son Kanishk lives.

The housing society was meant for war widows and soldiers who had been crippled or maimed in combat. Instead, the apartments were grabbed by senior army officials, politicians and bureaucrats.

Phatak, who is Rural Electrification Corporation chairman and managing director, got linked with the scam when he was Brihanmumbai municipal corporation commissioner.

Sources said a CBI team searched Marine Drive's Shanti Niketan building, where Kanishk lives with his family.

"Kanishk has told us he works with a construction company as finance manager and draws a salary of R1.5 lakh per month but we suspect it," a senior CBI official said on anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The CBI said Kanishk had claimed he paid a monthly rent of Rs 50,000 for the flat (at Shanti Niketan). The Adarsh Housing Society flat, which is in Kanishk's name, was also searched.

CBI sources said they had identified seven properties that belong to Phatak and his family members. "He has properties in Mumbai, Pune, and Yavatmal," the officer said.

"There are three lockers in Mumbai, two of which are in his wife's name, and a locker in New Delhi is also in the name of his wife," the source added. The CBI has learnt Phatak and his family have fixed deposits worth Rs 50 lakh. "They have been found to have 22 accounts in different banks," the CBI source said.