Srijan scam: ₹14 cr in diamond jewellery paid to bigwigs’ wives
SIT SLEUTHS HAVE FOUND EVIDENCE OF RTGS PAY OFFS FROM SRIJAN TO JEWELLERS IN PATNA, LUCKNOW AND NEW DELHI
A host of wives of bureaucrats and politicians benefited from the government funds transferred fraudulently to the account(s) of the NGO, Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, between 2007 and 2017 at Bhagalpur, about 300 km east of state capital, Patna.
Records with sleuths of the special investigative team (SIT), set up by the Bihar Police to investigate the scam on orders of chief minister Nitish Kumar, on August 9, show ₹14 crore worth of diamond jewellery was bought directly with Srijan money and given to wives and children of bureaucrats and politicians.
The sleuths have found evidence of RTGS pay offs from Srijan to jewellers in Patna, Lucknow and New Delhi.
It was found Jalan Gems and Jewellery store on Fraser Road, Patna, was paid a total of ₹7 crore from three separate Indian Bank accounts of Bhagalpur in the name of Srijan. Investigators said, of this amount, ₹49 lakh was paid on March 3, 2015, ₹25 lakh on March 6 and ₹40 lakh on March 9, 2015. More payments were made on other dates.
A woman, said to be highly connected, was directly identified as a beneficiary by the owner of the jewellery store whom the investigators approached for details,it is claimed. The sleuths also found that ₹5 crore had been paid to Rajesh Craft Jewellery, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi through RTGS transfer over two years. This was just the tip of the iceberg, investigators said.
Sleuths showed purchase order via RTGS for ₹22 lakh paid on February 16, 2015 for diamonds sold by the outlet.
Another jeweller, identified as Agrawal Jewellers, Lucknow has also been found to be a beneficiary of total ₹2 crore paid by Srijan on behalf of its clients. Documents for payments of ₹11 lakh on December 19, 2011 are now with sleuths.
Sources in the CBI, which took over the case from the Bhagalpur police last Saturday, said, “It has been confirmed that payments had been made through Indian Bank branch at Bhagalpur. It seems, the beneficiaries, who had selected the items were just required to go and collect them...”
They said the CBI would now examine CCTV footage of the week in which the purchases were made to establish the identity of the beneficiaries.
The Srijan scam has turned out to be a major embarrassment for the present Nitish Kumar led NDA government, with investigations now suggesting that the scam could reach massive proportions and involve other districts, besides Bhagalpur.