Mumbai : The Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested two senior Maharashtra bureaucrats in connection with the Adarsh housing society scam in Mumbai. CBI sources told AIR that the two top officials are senior IAS officer Jairaj Phatak and Maharashtra’s former information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari. Earlier, they were detained for questioning by the investigating agency. Both will be produced before a designated court tomorrow.

As Municipal Commissioner in 2010, Mr Phatak is alleged to have allowed the height of the building in upmarket Colaba to be raised beyond 100 metres without the approval of the High-Rise Committee of the municipal body. The agency has alleged that Pathak received a flat in the Adarsh Society building in the name of his son. Meanwhile, Retired Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari, as former urban development secretary allegedly allotted land and building rights to the Adarsh Society.

The seven other accused who were arrested earlier are Pradeep Vyas, a suspended bureaucrat in Maharashtra government; Retired Major General TK Kaul; Retired Major General AR Kumar; Retired Brigadier MM Wanchoo; RC Thakur, a retired defence estates officer, PV Deshmukh, a former Deputy Secretary in the Urban Department and KL Gidwani, a promoter of Adarsh Housing Society. So far nine people have been arrested in this case.