Gautam was link between accused

Police said it was M.L. Gautam (64), the retired DDA official, who was the link between whistleblower Deepak Kumar and Raju Ram, the Dwarka based property dealer who was arrested on Thursday.

Police said it was M.L. Gautam (64), the retired DDA official, who was the link between whistleblower Deepak Kumar and Raju Ram, the Dwarka based property dealer who was arrested on Thursday.

HT Image

While Gautam reportedly managed the fraud in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, he asked Deepak to focus on the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. The EOW investigating into the case said it was Gautam who arranged the finance required to purchase application forms under the reserved category.

“I do not know how I became a part of this scam. I am a graduate from Delhi University. I don’t know any Deepak Kumar,” Raju Ram who was arrested by the police told HT. Deepak was arrested on January 11.

“Gautam was aware that chances of bagging a flat under the reserved category was more. He asked property dealers to invest money and used his contacts to gain information about SC persons in states like UP, and Haryana,” said a senior police officer.

Gautam met Deepak during morning walks and floated the idea to him. “Gautam may have roped in other people also, Deepak was just one of them,” said the officer.

Police said it was at Gautam’s instance that they arrested Raju Ram on Thursday. “We recovered two cheques worth Rs 4.5 lakh each from Ram’s house. We want to know who signed them,” said the officer.

Police said Deepak along with Suresh Kumar Meena, who is absconding, had invested Rs 35 lakh for applications in the ST category, out of that Raju Ram had funded Rs 9 lakh.

“Deepak bagged seven flats along with Meena. Raju Ram had given Rs 9 lakh and was pressurising Deepak to return money.
Though Deepak provided him with two cheques, both bounced. We have recovered both the cheques,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, the police team camping in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan returned to Delhi and said they have found several incriminating documents.

The seven successful allottes in Jhunjhunu have told police that after the DDA draw result Suresh Meena and Laxmi Narayan visited their house on December 19 and took some documents signed by them.