The police said Gautam, 64, who retired from DDA’s telephone department in 2004, had allegedly filed some 1,200 application forms for flats reserved for SC/ST applicants and managed to ‘win’ 40 in the draw of lots.

Meanwhile, Deepak Kumar, the property dealer and the first complainant in the case who was arrested earlier this week, would be taken to Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan for further interrogations there.

Besides Gautam and Deepak Kumar, the Economic Offences Wing, which is probing the case, has till date arrested L N Meena, a suspended bank official from Jhunjhunu and Raju Ram, a Dwarka-based real estate agent.

Several documents, including details of some 1,200 applications and power of attorneys, have been seized from Gautam’s house in Paschim Vihar, officials said. Sources said Gautam had allegedly procured power of attorneys from successful allottees in the name of his relatives, including son Rakesh.

Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal said at a press conference today that inquiries in the scam are still in the initial stage and that the police want to “get to the bottom of the case” before making any recommendations about cancellation of allotments. “We are going step by step so that no loophole is left,” Dadwal said. “We are probing it from all angles.”