₹15.41 Cr treasury scam: 3 employees arrested, fraud spanned 8 years

Three district treasury employees have been arrested for allegedly embezzling ₹15.41 crore from government bank accounts over an eight-year period, officials said on Thursday.

The accused Shambhu Kumar, Rajnish Singh, and Dhirendra Singh were posted in the accounts branch of the police department. Their arrest followed a data analysis by the state Finance Department, which flagged suspicious transactions linked to treasury accounts.

Deputy Commissioner Shashi Prakash Singh said the accused admitted to their involvement during preliminary questioning. A four-member probe team led by Additional Collector Santosh Kumar Singh examined treasury records and uncovered a systematic fraud.

According to officials, the accused generated temporary pay IDs within the treasury system to authorise fake withdrawals. The funds were then routed to multiple suspect and benami accounts , enabling gradual siphoning without immediate detection. Authorities have frozen 21 such accounts , securing around ₹1.6 crore so far. An FIR has been registered at Lohsingna police station, and further investigation is ongoing.

The case comes amid a similar incident in Bokaro , where a Jharkhand Police accountant, Kaushal Kumar Pandey , was recently arrested for allegedly siphoning ₹4.29 crore from a salary account. He has been sent to judicial custody.

The back-to-back cases have sparked political controversy, with the opposition BJP criticising the Hemant Soren-led government and alleging a larger organised racket involving influential individuals. Party spokesperson Ajay Sah questioned how such large-scale fraud could occur without systemic lapses or higher-level involvement, and demanded a judicial or CBI probe .

Officials said further arrests are possible as investigators continue to trace the money trail and determine the full extent of the scam.