Patna/Bhagalpur, Sept. 2: Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, which is in the focus of a Rs 1000-crore fund transfer scam, used to offer diamonds and precious jewellery to wives, children and relatives of bureaucrats and politicians apparently in lieu of their favour.

This is evident from the documents furnished by sleuths of the special investigation team (SIT) to the CBI, which is probing the scam.

Documents showed that diamonds and jewellery were purchased from Patna, Lucknow and Delhi to be gifted to the wives and children of the bureaucrats and politicians who were in touch with Srijan's founder-secretary Manorama Devi. Manorama passed away in February this year.

A senior official associated with the investigation said the payments for diamonds and jewellery had been made from the accounts of Srijan through RTGS between 2007 and 2017. The investigating officials have approached a few jewellers to ascertain the identity of the beneficiaries.

'We have asked the jewellers to provide the CCTV footage of the persons who received the precious gems,' said the officer on the condition of anonymity. The SIT had prepared a list of beneficiaries of the funds transferred to the accounts of Srijan, an NGO that was set up in 1996 to empower rural women through self-help groups.

Investigations further revealed that a host of wives of bureaucrats and politicians benefited from Srijan between 2007 and 2017. Records available with the SIT revealed that diamonds worth Rs 14 crore were bought directly with Srijan money and given to wives and children of bureaucrats and politicians.

'The payment for diamond has been made to the jewellers in Patna, Lucknow and New Delhi from the accounts of Srijan,' said an investigating officer. During investigation, it came to the fore that a store on Fraser Road in Patna was paid a total of Rs 7 crore from three separate Indian Bank accounts of Bhagalpur in the name of Srijan. Similarly, a sum of Rs 49 lakh was paid on March 3, 2015, Rs 25 lakh on March 6 and Rs 40 lakh on March 9, 2015. More payments were made on other dates, records available with the SIT show.

Investigators claimed that Rs 5 crore had been credited to the account of a jewellery shop in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, through RTGS. Another payment of Rs 22 lakh was made on February 16, 2015, for diamond sold by the jewellery shop. A Lucknow-based jeweller was paid Rs 2 crore by Srijan.

'We have seized the documents related to such payments from the accounts of Srijan,' said an investigating officer. He said the CBI would examine the CCTV footage of the jewellery shops to ascertain the identity of the persons who received the ornaments.

District officials also didn't lag behind in showering benevolence on Srijan. Investigations by the SIT revealed that the head office of Srijan at Sabour in Bhagalpur district was located in a government building and the cost of its construction was borne by the then district administration.

A letter purportedly written by the then deputy development commissioner (DDC), Alis Usha Rani, in November 1999 revealed that the building constructed at a cost of Rs 7 lakh was meant for the training of rural youth for self-employment (TRYSEM) in the district. However, the building that was inaugurated on October 3, 2000, was allotted to Srijan.