The Bihar government issued a show cause notice to former Patna District Magistrate Gautam Goswami for joining a private company (Sahara India Parivar) before being relieved from the government service, an official source said on Tuesday.

State Chief Secretary K A H Subramanian added that the Centre had also sought clarification in this regard.

He said that since the state had not accepted Goswami's resignation, he was still part of the Indian Administrative Service of the Bihar cadre.

Subramanian said the state vigilance department would also lodge first information reports against Goswami and others in connection with the multi-crore flood relief scam.

"If the situation demands, Goswami will be interrogated," a source told rediff.com.

Goswami, a 1992 batch IAS officer, who was named by Time magazine as a 'young Asian hero' for his exemplary work in providing relief to flood victims in Bihar, 2004, is now in the line of fire for allegedly diverting funds meant for relief to a private company.

The source said the FIR will be lodged under Indian Penal Code 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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