Mumbai, March 6 (IANS) The CBI Tuesday arrested former Maharashtra Congress legislator Kanhaiyalal V. Gidwani, who is one of the promoters of the scam-hit Adarsh housing society, and a lawyer of the probe agency for corruption, official sources said here.

Gidwani was nabbed when he was allegedly attempting to bribe Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lawyer Mandar Goswami. The lawyer was also taken into custody, according to an official who requested anonymity.

A former member of the Maharashtra legislative council, Gidwani and his family owned three flats in the controversial Adarsh housing society's 31-storey building in Colaba in south Mumbai.

Last September, he faced a two-member commission probing the Adarsh society scam.

During his deposition, Gidwani said that he had undertaken the sole responsibility to get the additional floor space index for the Adarsh society building, using his political connections and clout.

The scam claimed the job of former chief minister Ashok Chavan after allegations surfaced of collusion between bureaucrats and politicians to corner flats in the building. The flats were originally meant for widows and heroes of the Kargil conflict.