NEW DELHI, 31 May 2005 — The Bihar government has announced a cash reward for information about the whereabouts of senior IAS officer and former District Magistrate of Patna Gautam Goswami, who is absconding following a arrest warrant issued against him in connection with the flood relief scam.
Official sources said that raids were on to arrest Goswami, Santosh Jha and others accused in the scam.
Meanwhile, five people including the branch manager of IDBI Sanjay Jha, an employee of the same branch Shailendra Kumar, managing director of Bihar Laghu Udyog Vikas Nigam Mukteshwar Prasad and an assistant of the corporation Amalendu Kumar Choudhry, and an ADM rank officer Vasudev Das were arrested yesterday in this connection and were sent to jail.
Goswami, named an Asian hero by Time magazine for his handling of flood relief, is now a wanted man for allegedly siphoning off millions of aid dollars.
The reward was a “good amount,” the report quoted Neelmani, additional director general of Bihar’s vigilance department, as saying. “We will suitably reward the person providing information on the whereabouts of Goswami. The name of the informer will be kept secret.”
The ex-bureaucrat is accused of siphoning off 170 million rupees ($4 million) meant to rehabilitate flood victims and provide relief during floods which claimed more than 800 lives in Bihar last year, according to government figures.
Millions were left homeless by the floods in the state. There were many complaints about the distribution of flood relief by the Bihar administration. Five people were killed when police opened fire on protesters complaining about the distribution.
The alleged scam first came to light earlier this month when the Indian Express newspaper reported millions of rupees meant for the homeless were taken by Goswami, some other government officials and fraudulent contractors.
After the allegations became public, Goswami defended himself at a press conference, describing his conduct as “blameless.” The former official, who left government service in January for a lucrative private sector job, is also under fire for taking up his new assignment before being formally relieved of his duties as a bureaucrat.
Last October, Time magazine cited Goswami for his “brilliant work” over the years, particularly in coordinating flood relief and rescue operations.
In another significant development, a local court in Siwan has issued a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against the Rashtrya Janata Dal MP from district Mohammad Shahabuddin in connection with a criminal case.
Siwan Police Superintendent Ratan Sanjay said yesterday that the police had procured the copy of the arrest warrant against the RJD MP and it would be executed at the earliest.
Additional District Judge IV B. K. Ray on Saturday issued the non-bailable warrant of arrest against the Siwan MP following his failure to appear before the court despite several summons for framing charges in connection with abduction of two CPI-ML (L) workers Jangam Sah and Sivanaj Paswan.
