RJD MP accuses Bihar Police’s SVU of shielding 8 IAS officers in multi-crore tender fraud

Sudhakar Singh alleged that while second rung officials were being arrested, the senior IAS officials had been let off despite ED’s clear indications at whose behest junior officials operated without fear

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Lok Sabha MP from Buxar Sudhakar Singh on Monday accused the Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) of the Bihar Police of trying to hush up the alleged multi-crore tender scandal by not naming eight of the nine senior IAS officers in its chargesheet despite their names mentioned in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) affidavit.

RJD leader and MP Sudhakar Singh (ANI)

Rishu Shree, a contractor, was recently arrested under the PMLA and remains in judicial custody for the alleged tender scandal in key government departments like Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCO), Urban Development Department, Building and Construction, besides other departments of Water Resources, Health, Public Health Engineering, Education, and Rural Works Department.

At a press conference on Monday, Sudhakar Singh alleged that while second rung officials were being arrested, the senior IAS officials had been let off despite ED’s clear indications at whose behest junior officials operated without fear.

“This means that either the ED findings lacked substance or the SVU chargesheet is an attempt to paper over the scandal. What is more, on what basis were the two IAS officers put under suspension and raids were also carried out at their residence later in their absence, when there was no evidence against them,” he added.

Terming the scandal much bigger than the fodder scam, Singh said that the ED got active in case in 2021-22 when JD(U) was with the RJD in the government, and developed cold feet as soon as Nitish Kumar switched over to the BJP side.

Singh said that there was one officer who remained at the helm in the Urban Development Department for a long time, which was under scanner for several tenders, and was later shifted to finance minister after replacing the previous incumbent within three days.

“Ever since the officer’s name surfaced in the tender scandal, he has made foreign trips several times and that also needs to be examined. Bihar does not even have a Lokayukt for ensuring detailed probe against senior officials,” he said, adding that he would also approach the court for a detailed probe under judicial monitoring.

Singh said that the second rung officials now behind bars in the tender scandal after huge recoveries from their residences during raids got post-retirement extension of service, “which cannot happen without the involvement of department heads”.

Former Engineer-in-Chief Tarini Das, Finance Department official Mumukshu Kumar Choudhary, Executive Engineer Umesh Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar, and others have been named in the SVU chargesheet along with IAS officer Sanjiv Hans, who was arrested in a different case earlier and had his suspension revoked in December 2025 after getting bail.

Bihar Police’s Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) had earlier this month filed a 4,000-page chargesheet in the Special Vigilance Court in the tender manipulation scandal. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is concurrently investigating the money laundering aspect of the case on the basis of FIR registered by SVU.

The ED, Patna Zonal Office, had conducted search operations at nine locations across Ahmedabad, Surat, Gurgaon and New Delhi on November 25, 2025, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in a case related to Rishu Shree.