Maharashtra govt suspends two serving bureaucrats accused in Adarsh scam

Mumbai:  Senior IAS officers Pradeep Vyas and Jairaj Phatak have been placed under suspension pending investigation in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court today.

While Mr Vyas was the Collector of Mumbai, Mr Phatak was City Municipal Commissioner when the scam took place.

According to the CBI, Mr Vyas (49), during his tenure as Collector from August 2002 to May 2005, allegedly connived with other accused and accepted false documents as proof of income and granted membership to those who were not eligible.

His wife Seema Vyas, also an IAS officer, has a flat in the posh Adarsh building.

Mr Vyas, a 1989 batch officer was arrested for his alleged role in the scam yesterday.

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. His son received a flat in the Adarsh Society building allegedly as quid pro quo.

The High Court is hearing a batch of public interest litigations filed by social activists Simpreet Singh and Pravin Wategaonkar seeking monitoring of the probe by the High Court and invoking provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case.

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Man shoots son dead over serving mutton

Patna:  A man shot dead his son after an argument on serving him mutton before other members of the family in a village in Bihar, police said on Sunday.
Radhakrishna Thakur, a retired soldier, killed his 20-year-old son Satrughan Thakur in Nawadih village under Sikarhatta police station in Bhojpur district, about 60 km from here, over an argument on serving him mutton first, police said.
According to police, prima facie it appears that Radhakrishna was drunk when he shot dead his young son.
"His family members told police that Radhakrishna was angered when his younger son Satrughan wanted to be served mutton before his elder brother and grabbed the dish but Radhakrishna threatened to kill him if he did not allow him to serve his elder son first," a police officer said.
The victim's mother Lilawati Devi has lodged an FIR against her husband for killing her son.
A district police officer said that police have recovered the half-burnt body of the victim from the cremation ground after it was informed about the incident.
"Going by the statements of some villagers, the accused tried to cremate the victim in a hurry to suppress the evidence," the police official said.
Police said Radhakrishna is absconding after the incident.
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