Hazaribag (Jharkhand), April 10 Two more persons were arrested in the Hazaribag Superintendent of Police (SP) Office treasury scam, bringing the total number of arrests to five, and the amount embezzled has also increased to Rs 28 crore, an official said.
Hazaribag Deputy Commissioner Shashi Prakash Singh told reporters on Friday that, in addition to the three police constables arrested on Thursday, identified as Shambhu Singh, Rajnish Singh, and Dhirendra Singh, two more persons were arrested, namely Kajal Kumari, wife of Shambhu Singh, and Khusboo Kumari, wife of Rajnish.
All five have been remanded in judicial custody, the official said.
"The amount of the scam rose to Rs 28 crore after continuous investigation from Rs 15.41 crore," the official added.
The deputy commissioner said that teams have been sent from Hazaribag and Barhi to Gaya in Bihar to investigate the matter.
"During the investigation, it was found that Shumbhu Kumar, who hailed from Gaya, owned crores of rupees. He has two buildings worth Rs 8 crore in Hazaribag and Gaya, which include a four-storied building in Gaya. During the investigation, it was found that the amount was mostly invested in immovable properties," the deputy commissioner said.
The team investigating the matter includes Treasury Officer Ujjwal Chaurasia, Additional Collector Santosh Kumar Singh, Land Reform Deputy Commissioner (LRDC) Rajkishore Prasad, District Transport Officer Baijnath Kamti, Nazarat Deputy Collector (NDC) Pradip Kumar, and Bank of India's Lead District Manager (LDM) for Hazaribag district.
Hazaribag Superintendent of Police Anjani Anjan told reporters that those responsible for this scam will not be spared and strict action will be taken against them.
"The investigation is still continuing, and we expect to come out with more details after the completion of the probe," the SP added.
On Thursday, three treasury employees—Shambhu Kumar, Rajnish Singh, and Dhirendra Singh—had been arrested for allegedly embezzling Rs 15,41,41,485 from two bank accounts of the Hazaribagh district treasury over the past eight years.
Hazaribag Deputy Commissioner had on Thursday said that the arrests came after the State Finance Department identified suspicious transactions through data analysis. During initial questioning, the accused reportedly admitted their involvement in the financial irregularities.
"It was found that temporary pay IDs were used to illegally withdraw government funds, which were then transferred to various suspect bank accounts. Following the probe, 21 suspicious accounts were frozen, securing Rs 1.6 crore in the process. A formal FIR has been registered at Lohsingna police station by the district treasury officer," the release added.
All the three are employed in the accounts branch of the police department posted at Hazaribag.
Meanwhile, ruling JMM on Friday countered BJP over allegations linked to illegal withdrawals from treasuries, saying the issue is not recent but dates back nearly 14 years to the tenure of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das (2014-2019).
JMM Central General Secretary and spokesperson Vinod Pandey said the controversy being raised by the BJP is rooted in administrative lapses during its own rule, where lack of transparency and accountability allowed such practices to grow. He argued that current developments are a consequence of that period.
JMM asserted that the government led by Hemant Soren is acting with a “zero tolerance to corruption” approach and has already initiated a probe into the matter.
“The ongoing action reflects the administration’s commitment to tackling corruption,” Pandey added.
Opposition, BJP, on Thursday, had criticised the Hemant Soren-led government over the treasury scams that surfaced in Bokaro and Hazaribag.
Party spokesperson Ajay Sah had stated that if an impartial and thorough investigation is conducted into this entire matter, the unmasking of several influential and "white-collar" figures is inevitable.
He further added that incidents such as the manipulation of date of birth clearly demonstrate that the capability for technical tampering existed, and feared that these points point toward the existence of a large-scale, organised racket.
“A scam of such magnitude would be impossible to execute without the patronage of senior police officials,” he had alleged.
He had demanded either a judicial inquiry or an investigation by the CBI into the matter.