Municipal commissioner Parmeshwar Ram lodged an FIR against former mayor Ajay Paswan, erstwhile municipal commissioner Vinod Kumar Jha, accounts officer Ratan Kumar and equipment supplier M/s Azad Sales for alleged financial irregularities.
Ram on Monday instituted a case under Town police station of the district, about 175km northeast of Patna.
The four have been accused of misusing funds in purchase of dustbins and wheelbarrows valued at Rs 4.6 lakh in 2008.
District magistrate Kumar Ravi had set up a three-member committee to probe the matter on December 9, 2013. The committee, comprising additional collector Dinesh Kumar, senior deputy collector Vinod Kumar and district account officer Ram Balak Kumar, submitted its report to the district magistrate on December 14. Acting on the report, Ravi directed the municipal commissioner Parmeshwar to lodge an FIR against the four persons, who were allegedly found guilty of financial bungling in purchase of dustbins and wheelbarrows in 2008.
Ram told The Telegraph: “Acting on the direction of the district magistrate, we lodged a case of financial irregularities against former mayor Ajay Paswan, then municipal commissioner Vinod Kumar Jha, account officer Ratan Kumar and Patna-based equipment supplier Ms Azad Sales at Town police station on Monday. It is now upon the police to investigate the matter.”
Paswan and others are said to have purchased equipment at higher prices.
Senior superintendent of police Kumar Aikley said: “The case that was lodged against former mayor and others is based on a report. We will probe the report before taking any action against them. We will take action against those found guilty. It is too early to arrive at any conclusion.”
Former mayor Paswan said: “While investigating the financial irregularities concerning the purchase of dustbins and wheelbarrows, three committees were set up so far. All the panels probed the matter and submitted their reports but not a single committee consulted us so that we could bring the veracity of the matter. All the committees are politically influenced and they are trying to implicate us.”
