BHAGALPUR: One of the prime suspects in the multicrore Srijan funds scam died late on Sunday, prompting the opposition to question Bihar's Nitish Kumar government on the circumstances leading to his death.Mahesh Mandal, lodged in Bhagalpur jail, was taken to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in the evening. Mandal, who was the incharge of the treasury at Bhagalpur district welfare office, was accused of diverting government funds to NGO Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, founded by one Manorama Devi in the early 1990s. The RJD member added that the Srijan scam was "bigger" than the Vyapam scam, which saw several suspects dying under mysterious circumstances during the investigation.Meanwhile, the SIT raided business establishments and houses of four persons in connection with the scam. The SIT also interrogated five people associated with Central Cooperative Bank, Bhagalpur, one of the banks accused of transferring funds to Srijan.The scam is estimated at Rs 1,200 crore. Police sources said all the four were smalltime businessmen who became rich in one decade after getting associated with the NGO.

Source: Times of India August 21, 2017 21:21 UTC