In a significant development, one of the prime accused in the ₹202 crore Adarsh Urban Cooperative Credit Society scam, Devidas Adhane, has been arrested in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. This arrest comes after Adhane had been on the run since the case was registered at the Cidco police station in connection with the scam. A Special Investigating Team (SIT) had been tirelessly searching for him for the past four months.
Adhane had been employing evasive tactics, including frequently changing his location and avoiding the use of his mobile phone, which had posed a challenge to the SIT’s efforts to trace him. During his period in hiding, he resided at various religious places within the state, all while keeping a select set of vital phone numbers for communication, which he used to reach out to his relatives when needed.
However, it was on Wednesday that a breakthrough occurred. The police received intelligence indicating that Adhane was returning to the city to meet with his relatives and discuss specific aspects of the case. Seizing this opportunity, the police set a clever trap and successfully apprehended him at Mill Corner at approximately 8 a.m. During the interrogation, Adhane admitted to providing annual bribes to officials at the deputy registrar’s office (cooperative) as a means to forestall the investigation into the scam.
This commendable police operation was conducted under the guidance of DCP Aparna Gitay, with the leadership of ACP Dhananjay Patil, PI Sambhaji Pawar, and the dedicated efforts of other team members.
