Patna, Feb. 5: Nidhi Jha, the girlfriend of Santosh Kumar Jha, the kingpin of the Rs 17.80-crore flood-relief scam, today surrendered before a vigilance court.

She had been absconding since 2004, when the scam was unearthed.

The bungling in which the then Patna district magistrate, Gautam Goswami, was also framed had rocked Bihar’s administrative circle.

Additional director-general of police Neelmani told The Telegraph today: “Nidhi was the only one who managed to escape. Her Patna address was the same as of Santosh. To get to her we were froze her Canara Bank account, which showed a balance of Rs 1.98 crore.”

The state’s vigilance team, he added, has already filed chargesheet against 13 persons named in the first FIR, and nine others, including Nidhi, in a subsequent FIR. The trial is likely to begin soon. Most of the accused, including Goswami and Santosh, have been released on bail, though. Santosh had allegedly fraudulently withdrew government funds in the name of a fake firm. His company was entrusted with distributing flood-relief materials during the floods.