ED to attach Adarsh properties

The agency, which has already registered a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), may initiate action after perusal of the latest CBI charge sheet filed before a sessions court here last week.

The agency's step will further strengthen the CBI case in this regard, sources privy to the development said.

The ED attachment, however, would not be final and would be subject to the outcome of the CBI case against those named in its charge sheet.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is among 13 people charge sheeted by CBI in the Adarsh scam with the Congress leader being accused of granting some approvals to the upscale Housing society here as a quid pro quo for allotment of two flats for his kin.

The agency had registered a case in the scam in the housing society in Colaba on January 29 last year under IPC sections including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and showing forged documents as genuine, besides sections pertaining to Prevention of Corruption Act.

The charge sheet also named retired Army officers - Brig (Retd) M M Wanchoo, Maj Generals T K Kaul and A R Kumar, Colonels T K Sinha and R Bakshi, ex-Congress MLC K L Gidwani, IAS officer Jairaj Phatak and former CIC Ramanand Tiwari.

Besides them, society members R C Thakur, P V Deshmukh, Subhash Lala and Pradeep Vyas have been named by CBI.