Patna: A Patna police team arrested Rs15-crore toilet scam accused and former public health and engineering department (PHED) executive engineer Vinay Kumar Sinha from a hotel in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday night. Another accused in the case, Uday Singh, was also arrested near Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Uday is the office-bearer of Adi Shakti Seva Sansthan, an NGO involved in the scam.
Vinay and PHED cashier Biteshwar Prasad Singh had disbursed around Rs15 crore of central government's funds to Rita Kumari and Priti Bharti and four NGOs — Adi Shakti Seva Sansthan of Biharsharif, Maa Sarveshwari Seva Sansthan of Bakhtiyarpur, Satyam Shivam Kala Kendra of Jalalpur City and Shiv Seva Sansthan of Maner — for constructing toilets in rural areas of Patna between May 1 and June 23 this year. The toilets were never constructed.
Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said Uday has provided to police a voice recording in which Vinay is threatening Uday's sister Suman Singh for destroying documents and other evidences related to the scam. "The threat to Suman was given just after Patna district administration initiated an internal probe to know how much money was illegally disbursed to the NGOs even though government had ordered for disbursal of funds directly into the beneficiary's bank accounts," the SSP said. Altogether 21 accused, including Vinay, has been arrested in the scam till now.
He also said investigation were on to know if any more senior official, apart from Vinay, was involved in the scam or not.
Meanwhile City SP (Central) D Amarkesh said Vinay had taken shelters in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and some other places before landing in UP.
"Till now it has surfaced that Rs4.65 crore was embezzled by Vinay. The police were verifying the accounts to ascertain who received how much from the embezzled funds," the SP said.
Police said the funds transferred to the bank accounts of the NGOs were further transacted into the accounts of their owners' relatives from where Vinay and Biteshwar used to get cash. The modus operandi was used to escape scrutiny of financial transactions reaching back to them.
"Vinay has amassed huge immovable property, including several flats in several cities across the country," Amarkesh said, adding that police were also trying to gather information about a mall at Saguna Mor in Danapur in which Biteshwar had made investment.
Police said they would soon move court for police remand of Vinay and Biteshwar for further interrogation.
Vinay and PHED cashier Biteshwar Prasad Singh had disbursed around Rs15 crore of central government's funds to Rita Kumari and Priti Bharti and four NGOs — Adi Shakti Seva Sansthan of Biharsharif, Maa Sarveshwari Seva Sansthan of Bakhtiyarpur, Satyam Shivam Kala Kendra of Jalalpur City and Shiv Seva Sansthan of Maner — for constructing toilets in rural areas of Patna between May 1 and June 23 this year. The toilets were never constructed.
Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said Uday has provided to police a voice recording in which Vinay is threatening Uday's sister Suman Singh for destroying documents and other evidences related to the scam. "The threat to Suman was given just after Patna district administration initiated an internal probe to know how much money was illegally disbursed to the NGOs even though government had ordered for disbursal of funds directly into the beneficiary's bank accounts," the SSP said. Altogether 21 accused, including Vinay, has been arrested in the scam till now.
He also said investigation were on to know if any more senior official, apart from Vinay, was involved in the scam or not.
Meanwhile City SP (Central) D Amarkesh said Vinay had taken shelters in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and some other places before landing in UP.
"Till now it has surfaced that Rs4.65 crore was embezzled by Vinay. The police were verifying the accounts to ascertain who received how much from the embezzled funds," the SP said.
Police said the funds transferred to the bank accounts of the NGOs were further transacted into the accounts of their owners' relatives from where Vinay and Biteshwar used to get cash. The modus operandi was used to escape scrutiny of financial transactions reaching back to them.
"Vinay has amassed huge immovable property, including several flats in several cities across the country," Amarkesh said, adding that police were also trying to gather information about a mall at Saguna Mor in Danapur in which Biteshwar had made investment.
Police said they would soon move court for police remand of Vinay and Biteshwar for further interrogation.
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