Assets of accused in Patna toilet scam to be attached

PATNA: The Patna district administration, on Saturday, lodged a case for attachment of property against the accused in case of misappropriation of over ₹13.50 crore from a government fund allocated for construction of toilets under the Lohiya Swachh Bihar Abhiyan (LSBA) between 2012 and 2015.

LSBA is a project under which the state aims at making rural areas open defecation free.

Under the scheme, 1.66 crore families are to be provided with toilets by October 2, 2019.

Those found guilty include Vinay Kumar, the then executive engineer of public health and engineering department, accountant Biteshwar Prasad Singh and four NGOs.

While the NGO Aadishakti Seva Sansthan was paid ₹10.3 crore, Maa Sarveshwari Seva Sansthan got ₹2.14 crore, Satyam Shivam Kala Kendra got ₹1.52 crore and Shiv Seva Sansthan got ₹6.71 lakh.

Cases have also been lodged against two individuals, Rita Kumari and Preeti Kumari who were given ₹3.60 lakh and ₹2.97 lakh respectively, said Patna DM Sanjay Kumar Agrawal on Saturday.

Agrawal said he came to know that the benefits of the scheme were yet to reach the target groups, while the money in the account had already been declared spent, at a review meeting some weeks ago.

“A week-long investigation brought to the fore serious misappropriation and within hours we took action,” he said.

According to government directions, no NGO was to be involved in disbursing the funds but Kumar and Prasad flouted the norm and issued cheques aggregating to over ₹13.50 crore.

Investigation also revealed that Kumar was allowed to issue cheques only worth ₹50 lakh in a month.

Agrawal said though there were no records of publicity or advertisement of this scheme, ₹1.50 crore were disbursed to three of the NGOs on the list of the accused.

The district administration had already filed an FIR against all the accused on November 2. Agrawal added that attachment of properties was the first step.

THE LOHIYA SWACHH BIHAR ABHIYAN IS A PROJECT UNDER WHICH THE STATE AIMS AT MAKING RURAL AREAS OPEN DEFECATION FREE