PATNA
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the multi-crore Srijan scam, filed three separate charge-sheets on Saturday before the special court in Patna against 60 accused, including former Bhagalpur district magistrate and JD (U) leader K P Ramaiah.
Ramaiah, a 1986-batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, has also served as principal secretary of scheduled castes/tribe welfare department and secretary of Mahadalit Commission, before joining the JD (U) in 2014, when he unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha election from Sasaram constituency.
He is the second formed DM of Bhagalpur to be charge-sheeted in the case. Earlier, 2004-batch IAS officer Birendra Prasad Yadav, currently posted as special secretary (backward class and extremely backward classes) at the state’s social welfare department, was charge-sheeted.
The Srijan scam involves fraudulent transfer of more than Rs 2,000 crore from government’s bank accounts in Bhagalpur to Srijan Mahila Vikash Sahyog Samiti (SMVSS), an NGO which claimed to be working for the uplift of women in different districts. The cases first came to light in August 2017 and the CBI took over the case the same month.
Others already charge-sheeted in the case include Manorma Devi (late), founder secretary of the SMVSS, manager Sarita Jha, director Subha Laxmi Jha, secretary Rajni Priya and her husband Amit Kumar, besides the then chief managers, then branch managers and other officials of Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank.
{{/usCountry}}Others already charge-sheeted in the case include Manorma Devi (late), founder secretary of the SMVSS, manager Sarita Jha, director Subha Laxmi Jha, secretary Rajni Priya and her husband Amit Kumar, besides the then chief managers, then branch managers and other officials of Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank.
{{/usCountry}}Manorama Devi, who reportedly flaunted her connections with politicians and bureaucrats and helped Srijan spread its tentacles.
About Ramaiah, the CBI has found that he, as DM of Bhagalpur in 2011, allowed opening of bank accounts in SMVSS with the help of then deputy collector (nazarat) Vijay Kumar and depositing Rs 3.5 crore in two separate accounts.
During investigation, the premier agency found that there were illegal transfers and misuse of funds from government accounts in Bhagalpur district to accounts of the SMVSS through a conspiracy hatched between government officials, including DMs and office bearers of the NGO, between 2003 and 2014.
In another case, Ramaiah has also been accused of embezzlement of funds meant for the uplift of scheduled caste/tribe students through imparting training in computer courses. Bihar’s vigilance department had found he was wrongly disbursing Rs 2.24 crore only two days before his voluntary retirement.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Sunday accused CM Nitish Kumar of having patronised the tainted former bureaucrat. “The chief minister should explain why an accused in the Srijan scam is being patronised by the JD(U). After all, what is so special about Ramaiah that the JD(U) had given him ticket during parliamentary polls and later appointed him as member of the land tribunal when he lost the election,” said Tejashwi.