Police looks North-East in DDA case

New Delhi, Jan 15: Widening the scope of probe into the irregularities in the allotment of DDA flats, Delhi Police has started examining applications submitted by people from North-East states, especially from Manipur. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police`s Crime Branch has already found that a large number of applications were submitted with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) fraudulently by a cartel of property dealers and agents to corner flats reserved for SC/STs. With North-East states having a substantial population of SC/STs, a senior police official said, police is now examining the applications submitted by people belonging to SC/STs from these areas. "We have information that about 900 applications submitted by people belonging to Manipur. There are applicants from other North-East states also. We are looking into whether there is any fraud involved," the official said. Investigators will also look into applications from other states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the official said adding, this is besides extending the probe into the general category. The EOW is presently investigating into a complaint that it received last month that some property dealers had connived with DDA officials and applied for flats under fictitious names to get the flats under SC/ST quota. A number of allottees in Rajasthan were even unaware that they were allotted the flats and admitted that some people from Delhi who came to their villages had taken their signatures in DDA forms. In some cases, applicants did not even know that applications were submitted in their names. Majority of them belong to Rajasthan`s Jhunjhunu. Police have already taken possession of CDs containing the details of over 5.67 applicants from DDA yesterday for further examination. This move comes close on the heels of sleuths seizing the hardware of the computer used for controversial draw of lots for DDA flats. "Both the hardware and CDs are being examined at the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Hyderabad," the official said. Police have already arrested Laxmi Narayan Meena, a sacked bank employee, and Deepak Kumar, a law graduate, for allegedly collecting details of SC/ST people and submitting applications for DDA flats earmarked for them without their knowledge. The official said this was part of their investigations to ascertain whether any DDA official is involved in committing the irregularities. The sleuths are also examining the call records of Meena and Kumar to check whether they had been in touch with any DDA officials to "rig" the draw of lots which was held on December 19 last year. Meanwhile, one more name cropped up in the investigation with Delhi Police trying to ascertain whether he was an employee of DDA. Investigators went to the DDA headquarters yesterday to find out whether one B L Gautam, whose name cropped during the investigations, was an employee of the agency. "We had gone to DDA for investigating whether Gautam is in the pay rolls of the agency. We checked the files but could not find any person in the name of Gautam," the official said but refused to divulge how he was involved in the case. Police is now investigating whether Gautam is a former employee of the DDA.