Jharkhand bureaucrat under CBI scanner for Rs.1.3 bn scam

September 30th, 2009 RANCHI - Even though a month has passed since the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the house of senior IAS official and ex-health secretary Pradeep Kumar in a Rs.1.35 billion scam, the state government has yet to suspend him. "The process has been initiated to suspend Kumar," a senior government official told IANS.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday appealed to President Pratibha Patil for early elections in Jharkhand, which is under the President's Rule since Jan 19. "We informed the president that keeping the legislative assembly in suspended animation had no logic as no political party in Jharkhand is in a position to form a new government," Raghuvar Das, Jharkhand BJP president, told reporters after meeting the president.

September 1st, 2009 RANCHI - Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths, who raided the houses of a senior civil servant in Jharkhand for his alleged involvement in a Rs.1.3 billion scam in the state's health department, have seized investment documents worth at least Rs.72 lakh (Rs.7.2 million) from his possession. These include Rs.47 lakh worth of fixed deposit documents, investment documents worth over Rs.25 lakh and documents of flats in New Delhi and Udaipur, informed sources said.

August 31st, 2009 RANCHI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday carried out searches at the residences of health department officials in Jharkhand, including former state health secretary Pradeep Kumar. The CBI conducted searches at 13 places in Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Daltanganj, informed sources said.

July 7th, 2009 RANCHI - Jharkhand Tuesday declared four of its 24 districts as drought hit, an official said. The four districts which have been declared as drought hit are Palamau, Chatra, Latehar and Garhwa.

June 30th, 2009 RANCHI - The Jharkhand High Court Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Rs.1 billion bitumen scam involving the fraudulent withdrawal of money from the state treasury for constructing roads. A division bench of justices M.Y.

June 17th, 2009 SHIMLA - The Himachal Pradesh government Wednesday revoked the suspension of senior bureaucrat Subhash Ahluwalia, an accused in a disproportionate assets case, an official here said. "Subhash Ahluwalia was posted as divisional commissioner of Kangra this (Wednesday) evening after his suspension was revoked by the government," secretary (personnel) Diljeeet Singh Dogra told IANS.

April 27th, 2009 RANCHI - Twenty-six convicts of a multi-million fodder scam case were Monday awarded three to six years of rigorous imprisonment by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Jharkhand. Judge A.H. Ansari also slapped fine ranging from Rs.1 lakh to Rs .ten lakh on the 26 convicts, who were held guilty by the court last Friday.

April 24th, 2009 RANCHI - A special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Friday convicted 45 accused and sentenced 14 of them to three years rigorous imprisonment in connection with the fodder scam case of early 1990's. The court also slapped fines between Rs.

April 24th, 2009 RANCHI - A special court in Jharkhand Friday convicted 43 accused in the multi million fodder scam case, sentencing 14 of them to three years' imprisonment each. The rest of the sentences will be announced Monday A.H.

April 1st, 2009 RANCHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is crying foul over Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibte Razi's move to release a Rs.910 million revival package for Heavy Engineering Corporation, allegedly in violation of the election code of conduct. The BJP Wednesday demanded an FIR against the governor, who Tuesday released a cheque of Rs.91 crore (Rs.910 million) to Heavy Engineering Corporation Monday as a part of the Rs.250 crore revival package passed by the state government Feb 13, a fortnight before the election code of conduct came into force.

March 28th, 2009 RANCHI - The Election Commission (EC) Saturday said it would look into the Jharkhand governor's decision to hike government employees' dearness allowance (DA) after the model code of conduct came into operation. 'The Election Commission's permission should have been taken by the government before taking such a decision.

March 7th, 2009 JAMSHEDPUR - The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) senior leader L.K. Advani kicked off his election campaign in Jharkhand Friday.

February 8th, 2009 RANCHI - A special court in the Jharkhand capital Monday awarded four to five years of imprisonment and imposed fine between Rs.25,000 to Rs. 1 million to 10 convicts in a multi-million fodder scam.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The owner of a shopping mall in south Delhi has come under the police scanner for allegedly financing the scam related to the allotment of over 5,000 Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flats. Highly place sources in Delhi Police said the mall owner gave Rs.6 million to retired DDA official M.L.