Rs 10 Crore Money Trail Uncovered In Jharkhand Treasury Scam

The Jharkhand CID has uncovered a Rs 10 crore money trail in the Bokaro treasury scam, leading to arrests and a comprehensive audit of district treasuries.

The Jharkhand Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has traced a money trail of Rs 10 crore in connection with the Bokaro treasury scam, an official statement said on Friday.

It froze two fixed deposits (FDs) of Rs 1.8 crore and Rs 18 lakh, which were allegedly transferred to several bank accounts from the Bokaro treasury.

The CID also arrested two police personnel in addition to Kaushal Kumar Pandey, an accountant with the Bokaro police department, the statement said.

The arrested police personnel include ASI Ashok Kumar Bhandari and Home Guard jawan Satish Kumar, it said.

Assets Seized in Treasury Scam Investigation

During a raid on Bhandari's house, important documents related to his allegedly ill-gotten properties were seized. His properties include a 4.08 decimals of land in Telidih in Bokaro and a three-storey luxurious house constructed on that land, and another piece of 4.98 decimals of land.

The CID lodged an FIR under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act and the three persons were sent to judicial custody, it said.

Pandey was arrested for allegedly withdrawing more than Rs 6 crore from the treasury's salary disbursement account in the names of Ram Naresh Singh, Upendra Singh, S Kumar and several others.

The accused was arrested after an FIR was lodged by treasury officer Gulab Chand Oraon at Bokaro Steel City police station.

Wider Embezzlement Across Jharkhand Police

Thereafter, in Hazaribag district, three persons -- Shambhu Kumar, Rajnish Singh and Dhirendra Singh -- employed in the police department's accounts branch were arrested on April 8 for allegedly embezzling Rs 15.41 crore from two bank accounts over the past eight years.

Later, on April 9, two more persons, namely Kajal Kumari, wife of Shambhu Singh and Khusboo Kumari, wife of Rajnish Singh, were arrested in connection with this case.

Recently, on April 26, an FIR was also registered against a police constable for his alleged involvement in the "embezzlement of Rs 27 lakh" from the West Singhbhum district treasury.

State Government Orders Comprehensive Audit

As the case surfaced, an investigation was initiated after lodging an FIR at Muffasil police station based on a statement by Chaibasa treasury officer Sumit Kumar Singh.

During the investigation, on April 28, police arrested four persons including prime accused Devnarayan Murmu, a constable accountant, along with his relatives Arun Kumar Mardi and Sarkar Hembrom from Potka block in neighbouring East Singhbhum district, and his friend Gorachand Mardi from Mayurbhanj district in Odisha.

In the wake of reports of fraudulent withdrawals, state Finance Minister Radha Krishna Kishore ordered a comprehensive audit of all district treasuries.