Jharkhand Government protecting officers involved in treasury scam: BJP

The Jharkhand BJP on Monday accused the JMM-led alliance Government of protecting officers allegedly involved in “illegal withdrawal” of money from district treasuries in the State.

The saffron party also asserted that the progress of the investigation into the matter has been tardy.

“The State’s finance minister himself admitted that Rs 10,000 crore is unaccounted for in the treasury. This is not a small amount. The minister claimed that the scam occurred over the last seven or eight years, but did not disclose how it happened,” State BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo told reporters.

He alleged that action is being taken only against the “small players”, while senior officers “are being protected” in the investigation.

“The special investigation team (SIT), which was constituted to probe into the scam, includes officers during whose tenure as SPs the treasury scam took place. No fair or impartial probe can be expected in such a scenario,” Shahdeo asserted.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Congress vice-president and media chairman Satish Paul Munjni said the BJP’s allegations were far from the facts and politically motivated.

“BJP leaders are repeatedly trying to mislead the public by citing the alleged Rs 10,000 crore treasury scam. The reality is that the government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, instead of hiding financial irregularities, took cognisance of the matter.

“It constituted an SIT, got the CID to investigate, and recommended a special audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG),” Munjni said.

He asserted that the investigation or the initiative for a special audit would not have taken place if the Government wanted to protect anyone.

The Jharkhand Government is working with a policy of zero tolerance in any case of corruption, the Congress leader added.