Mumbai, Jun 15 (Indian Express) : The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Saturday searched the homes of seven persons named as accused in the Maharashtra Sadan corruption case. The premises searched included those owned by two state information commissioners.

Several ACB teams searched locations across the state Saturday, and officials claimed to have unearthed multiple houses, vehicles and gold owned by the accused in assets disproportionate to their known sources of incomes. Former public works department (PWD) secretaries and current state information commissioners Deepak Deshpande and Manik Shah were also found to own numerous properties. According to the ACB, Deshpande owns five homes in Aurangabad, where he is posted currently as information commissioner, three homes in Pune and one in Thane.

Apart from five hectares of farmland in Aurangabad, a search of Deshpande’s homes also unearthed Rs 2.68 crore in cash and bonds, and Rs 50 lakh in three bank accounts.

The ACB said four bank lockers owned by Deshpande were yet to be opened. Shah, the ACB said, was found to own one bungalow and six apartments in Pune, apart from three other apartments and shops and a total of 12 hectares of farmland in six locations.

According to an FIR filed by the ACB earlier this week, Deshpande and Shah are alleged to have helped get developer K S Chamankar’s proposal to build a regional transport office (RTO) in Andheri approved. Prime accused Chhagan Bhujbal, the former PWD minister, is alleged to have chaired a meeting in 2001 during which the proposal, which was previously rejected by the transport and home departments, was approved. Chamankar was subsequently awarded contracts to construct Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi and a state government guest house in Malabar Hill area.

Deshpande, a 1976 batch MPSC officer who holds an MTech degree from IIT-Bombay, has held positions in the PWD and the Maharashtra State Roads Development Corporation (MSRDC) and is also a member of the Institution of Engineers.
According to his profile on the website of the National Federation of Information Commissioners of India, he has also overseen the construction of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Mumbai-Ahmedabad Golden Quadrangle and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. He is with the state information commission since 2010.

Shah, meanwhile, was first posted in the state government as an assistant engineer in the PWD in 1976. Apart from being the PWD secretary, Shah has also been posted in the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and MSRDC.

In Saturday’s searches, former PWD sub-divisional engineer Gajanan Sawant was found to own homes in Mumbai, Ambernath, Karjat, Bhiwandi, Alibaug and Nashik, apart from Rs 10.5 crore in cash and Rs 10.3 lakh in three bank accounts, the ACB said.

Additionally, former PWD superintending engineer Anil Kumar Gaikwad was found to own an Audi, a Honda Accord and an unidentified sports car apart from a home in Thane, the ACB said. The homes of former PWD executive engineer Harish Patil and former PWD superintending engineer Arun Deodhar could not be searched because they are absconding, according to the ACB. The other three accused whose premises were searched Saturday were former PWD secretary Devdutt Marathe, former PWD chief architect Bipin Sankhe and former PWD under-secretary Sanjay Solanki. “This is a fit case of disproportionate assets. In some cases, assets are over 300 per cent more than known income,” said Kishore Jadhav, Additional Commissioner, ACB.