Mundhwa land deal case: Pune Police make first arrest

Pune, Dec 3 (PTI) Police on Wednesday arrested Shital Tejwani, an accused in the case linked to the controversial sale of government land in Mundhwa area of the city to a company owned by Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's son Parth.

It is the first arrest in the high-profile case.

Speaking to reporters, Vivek Masal, deputy commissioner of police (Economic Offences Wing), said Tejwani was arrested in the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Khadak police station, in which Amadea Enterprises LLP partner Digvijay Patil and tehsildar Suryakant Yeole are also named as accused.

"Tejwani entered into a sale deed agreement illegally with Amadea Enterprises as Power of Attorney for the 40 acre government land on which Botanical Survey of India is on lease," the official said.

She had been summoned for the inquiry earlier, and after obtaining sufficient evidence, she was finally arrested in the case, Masal said.

"Based on her investigation and other names cropping up, the probe will go forward," he said when asked if Digvijay Patil, Parth Pawar's cousin and business partner, would be arrested.

Tejwani allegedly entered into a Rs 300 crore deal to sell the 40-acre land parcel to Parth Pawar and Digvijay Patil's firm Amadea Enterprises LLP on behalf of the 272 former owners of the land. The land, in fact, is owned by the government which has leased it to the Botanical Survey of India.

She will be produced before a court on Thursday.

Suspended tehsildar Suryakant Yeole is accused of misusing his power by issuing eviction notices to the Botanical Survey of India. The accused have been booked for cheating, criminal breach of trust, and other relevant offences. Parth Pawar was not made an accused as his name did not appear on the sale deed, police had said earlier. PTI COR SPK KRK