Adarsh Society land belongs to military: Army officer

MUMBAI - An internal investigation conducted by the Indian Army and records and maps dating back to 1854 reveal that the plot of land on which the controversial Adarsh housing society has been constructed belongs to the military, a senior army officer said Saturday.

The land belongs to the defence (establishment) and not to anybody else, Lt. Gen. Pradeep Khanna, chief of the Indian Army’s Pune-based Southern Command, told media persons here.

“The ongoing probe of the Southern Command will be completed within a week’s time,” Khanna said, adding that fresh internal research carried out by the army revealed that the plot of land actually belonged to the military.

“We have maps and records dating back to 1854. It was then the Colaba Island, but actually called Military Island and it belonged to defence,” he said.

Lt.Gen.Khanna said the fresh material unearthed in the matter has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is also probing the Adarsh Society scam.

Referring to another similar land scam concerning the defence land in Kandivli, a north-west suburb of Mumbai, which was sold to a builder allegedly flouting norms, Khanna said the army has recommended a CBI probe into that too.

In Kandivli, a plot of land belonging the Central Ordnance Depot was allegedly sold illegally to Neo-Pharma Pvt Ltd, a part of Kalpataru builders.

A massive multi-winged, multi-storeyed building has come up on the plot in the past few years.