Sundaram Apartment, Jayashree Thakur’s residence in Bhagalpur. Picture by Amit Kumar

The probe into disproportionate assets owned by Bhagalpur additional district magistrate Jayashree Thakur could take long, while speculation is rife that the enforcement directorate (ED) might take up the case.

Bhagalpur divisional commissioner Minhaj Alam said: “Since the probe team have a few more files on their hands, it will take more time to complete the probe.

The probe into the affairs of a co-operative society in Bhagalpur, which accepted a cheque of Rs 7.32 crore in Thakur’s name, is over. The report was submitted to the confidential section of the Bhagalpur district magistrate’s (DM) office. DM Prem Singh Meena said he had received the report but was yet to go through it. Senior deputy collector Sudhir Kumar, who led the probe team, declined comment.

Pankaj Jha, district cooperative officer-cum-managing director at Bhagalpur district’s Co-operative Bank and part of the investigating team, said there were no specific directions to probe the affairs of cooperative societies.

Raids by the economic offences unit (EOU) unearthed that the co-operative society was accepting deposits. The secretary of Sabour-based Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samity Ltd admitted before EOU that it was running a bank.

After the sham deposit collection scam involving Sharada group, then deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi had directed cooperative departments and district cooperative officers to probe non-banking financial activities and stop such activities immediately. But the deposit of Rs 7.32 crore shows the directives were not passed on to cooperative societies.