Court issues arrest warrants against 3
The Bhagalpur chief judicial magistrate issued arrest warrants against three people in connection with the multi-crore Srijan fund transfer scam on Wednesday evening.
The accused were identified as Amit and Priya Kumar, the son and daughter-in-law of Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti founder Manorama Devi, and Bhagalpur public grievances redressal officer Rajeev Ranjan Singh.
The NGO is accused of working in cahoots with bankers and treasury officials to illegally divert government funds into its own accounts. The scam, estimated at over ₹700 crore, first came to light when a government cheque presented to a Bhagalpur bank bounced due to insufficient funds on August 3.
Amit and Priya had taken over the reins of the NGO after the demise of Devi in February. Lookout notices have been issued against the duo to ensure they do not leave the country. Singh used to be a land acquisition officer at Bhagalpur. Investigators have also found a December 2003 letter from the then Bhagalpur district magistrate KP Ramaiah, advising district officials to encourage the NGO by opening accounts in its ‘cooperative bank’.
Ramaiah, incidentally, had contested unsuccessfully on a Janata Dal (United) ticket in the 2014 elections from Sasaram.
The RJD has been on the offensive in the assembly for over three days, raising fears the monsoon session may come a cropper.