Illegal Withdrawal Case: Jharkhand ATS Nabs Two, Recovers Rs 60 Crore

Dozens of accounts were opened using thousands of SIM cards from West Bengal and the proceeds were sent to various parts of the state.

Ranchi: In a raid at the house of an accused in the illegal withdrawal of Rs 109 crore from several government undertakings, the Jharkhand ATS team arrested two and seized Rs 60 crore on Saturday. Confirming the same, ATS SP Rishabh Jha said a huge amount of cash has been confiscated.

The raid, conducted at the house of Ram Lakhan Yadav in the Doranda area of Ranchi, is part of an ongoing investigation into the sudden disappearance of Rs 109 crore from the accounts of Tourism Development Corporation Limited (JTDC), Jharkhand Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited and Jharkhand Energy Production Corporation Limited. The arrested persons are being grilled to unearth more information on the money trail.

So far, six persons including JTDC's then accountant Girija Singh, Canara Bank Hatia's then branch manager Amarjeet Kumar, conspirator Rudra alias Sameer, Ranchi resident Lokeshwar Shah, Ranchi's Birsa Chowk branch manager Lolas Lakra and Allahabad Bank's Amar Kumar have been arrested in the case and 350 bank accounts containing Rs 47.20 crore have been frozen. The recovery includes Rs 1.93 crore in cash and jewellery worth Rs 17.

Investigations so far have revealed that the kingpin of the illegal withdrawal is a resident of Kolkata who has carried out the scam with the help of henchmen, bank employees and some government staff. About 1,200 accounts were used for the illegal withdrawal. Gupta said so far over Rs 50 crore has been seized and six people including a manager of the central bank have been arrested.

In a startling revelation, the SIT has found that dozens of accounts were opened using thousands of SIM cards from West Bengal and the proceeds of illegal withdrawals were sent to various parts of the state. Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta said a Bengal connection has come to the fore in the withdrawal of government money which is being investigated. After a thorough study of suspicious accounts over 600 account holders' names have surfaced among which many are small businessmen.

The origin of the case dates back to September 28 last year, when the general manager (finance) of JTDC lodged an FIR in Dhurwa Police Station in Ranchi. The CID took over the investigation after lodging an FIR on October 4 and an SIT was formed under Jha to probe it.

"This case is big and it is the responsibility of the police to bring back the public money at any cost. All suspects are on the radar and the Bengal connection has also come to the fore and soon everyone will be nabbed," Gupta said.