DDA scam ‘whistleblower’ held

A second arrest has been made by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police in connection with the alleged scam in allotment of flats under the DDA Housing Scheme-2008.

Deepak Kumar (34), who was being questioned by the EOW sleuths for the past two days, was arrested at Paschim Vihar here on Sunday. “He is responsible for the planning and execution of the whole fraud,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (EOW) S. B. K. Singh, confirming the arrest. A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with cheating and forgery has been registered against him.

Reacting to the arrest, Indian Justice Party leader Udit Raj said the police was acting under pressure from the builders’ lobby. “Initially Deepak had aligned with those who committed the fraud. But later better sense prevailed and he informed me and also reported the matter to the police much before the draw of lots on December 16. Had he not alerted the police, the fraud would have never come to light. He is the whistleblower.”

Earlier the EOW had arrested Laxmi Narayan (54), a former co-operative bank employee, at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. Laxmi Narayan had allegedly applied for scheme in the name of fellow villagers using forged documents like caste certificates and PAN cards. He had submitted as many as 177 application forms using forged documents and paid the money himself for the applications. He has been remanded to police custody till January 17.

Meanwhile, the police on Sunday conducted searches at various places in Delhi and Rajasthan in connection with the investigations. Raids were conducted at the premises of some property dealers at Khanpur and Dwarka in the Capital and Udaipur and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

Sources said Meena was taken to the village in Jhunjhunu from where he collected details of applicants to corroborate his statement to the police.

The police have also seized the software used for conducting the draw of lots and sent it to the Hyderabad Forensic Laboratory to find out if it was tampered with to help rig the procedure. They are also reportedly probing into the role of DDA officials hailing from Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, successful applicants of the housing scheme will stage a demonstration at the DDA headquarters at Vikas Sadan here on Monday to press their demand for early possession of flats and justice to the genuine candidates who were selected though the draw of lots