Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) A retired Delhi Development Authority (DDA) employee was arrested Thursday after the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police found evidence against him in the irregularities in the allotment of over 5,000 flats.Police said M.L. Gautam, who retired from the telephone department of the DDA in 2005, was detained and questioned Wednesday. He will be produced in a court at Rohini at 2 p.m. Thursday.

“We have gathered evidence against Gautam and he has been arrested,” a police officer said.

This is the third arrest made by the EOW after the detention of Lakshmi Narayan Meena, a sacked State Bank of India employee, and Deepak Kumar, who claims to have blown the lid off the scam.

Gautam’s name cropped up in the interrogation of Deepak Kumar, who was arrested Sunday.

According to the police, Gautam befriended Deepak Kumar - both lived in west Delhi’s Pashchim Vihar - during morning walks. Deepak Kumar, a law graduate, reportedly told Gautam that he was applying for flats in the reserved Scheduled Castes (SC) category.

Gautam advised him that chances of getting a flat in Scheduled Tribes (ST) category were better and he should apply there. Gautam was also promised some share of money, according to the police.

Deepak Kumar went to Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan and along with Lakshmi Narayan Meena collected information of over 200 villagers for making false applications, the police said.

The two allegedly passed the details to some west Delhi-based real estate agents. The agents applied for flats under the reserved categories with fraudulently obtained details and on the basis of forged documents, according to the police.