Srijan scam: Key accused nabbed from UP sent to Beur jail in judicial custody

A special CBI court in Patna on Friday sent Rajni Priya, a key accused in the Srijan scam arrested from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, to Beur jail here in judicial custody till August 21.

Rajni Priya is the daughter-in-law of (late) Manorama Devi, the founder of Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti in Bhagalpur, an NGO accused of illegally siphoning off at least ?1,000 crore of government money into its accounts in various banks. Priya, who was the NGO’s secretary, has been at large since 2017 when the scam came to light.

Priya’s husband Amit Kumar is also an accused in the case.

The couple were named as accused in the 22 of the 24 cases lodged by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), which had taken over the probe at the request of the Bihar government. The agency had earlier issued lookout notices against the couple.

The special CBI court in Patna had also issued non-bailable warrant against Priya.

On June 18, 2023, another accused in the scam, Arun Kumar, who was lodged in Beur Central Jail, died during treatment at a hospital in Patna. Arun, who was posted as district welfare officer in Bhagalpur, and his wife Indu Devi were accused in the case. Arun was arrested by the CBI on August 12, 2017, in Bhagalpur. He was transferred to Beur jail from Bhagalpur in 2018. Indu Devi had got bail in this case.

The scam

The CBI has filed a number of charge sheets in the case in which several persons, including a former district magistrate of Bhagalpur, have been named as accused. It is alleged that the NGO, which was working towards imparting training to women, had pilfered government funds in connivance with the bank officials and state government officials between 2003 and 2014.

There was illegal transfer and misuse of funds from government accounts in Bhagalpur district to accounts of the ‘Samiti’ through a conspiracy hatched between government officials and office bearers of the NGO, the CBI has alleged.

An initial probe by local police had revealed that the ‘Samiti’, based at Sabour in Bhagalpur district, allegedly procured chequebooks from banks and forged the signature of the district magistrate to transfer government funds to its account.

The probe had also pointed to the involvement of nationalised banks and government officials in the fraudulent withdrawal of funds in three districts of Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa.