File picture of Former Banka land acquisition officer Jayshree Thakur. (Gautam Sarkar)
Sleuths of the economic offences unit (EOU) were taken by surprise when they stumbled on the novel modus operandi of former additional district magistrate (now dismissed) Jayshree Thakur to favour her near and dear ones about four years ago.
Thakur, an officer of the Bihar Administrative Service, was posted as land acquisition officer of Banka and Bhagalpur when a case of disproportionate assets was lodged against her in Patna in July 2013. Her unaccounted wealth had surfaced soon after she deposited Rs 7.32 crore in the Bhagalpur-based Srijan cooperative bank for women in July 2013.
Thakur, whose husband was a lecturer in a college at Godda in Jharkhand, had been accused of accumulating disproportionate assets worth over Rs.19.02 crore. In a span of 17 years of her service, she remained posted in her home town either in Banka or Bhagalpur for most of the period, thanks to her close proximity to a former minister in the first term of NDA rule in the state.
A senior officer of the EOU who had monitored the investigation, said that Thakur used to tip off her relatives and family acquaintances to purchase big plots of land in Bhagalpur and Banka districts. Once the plots were registered, she would send proposals to the government to acquire land in a particular area for development of the projects.
Such a proposal was submitted to the government to acquire land for the laying of the Deoghar-Sultanganj railway line in 2012. The proposal was approved and compensation was paid to the land owners at a rate four times higher than the value of the registered deed. At times, she would suggest to her men to get the land registered at a higher rate than the MVR (minimum value rate - the price fixed by the government for registration of land).
The modus operandi came to the fore when her staff allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 as bribe from one Debashish Jha against the payment of compensation of land. Jha, a resident of Vijay Nagar in Banka district, had lodged a complaint with the EOU, which later arrested a clerk-cum-amin K.P. Mehta and recovered Rs 3.75 lakh cash from his possession.
'Jayshree Thakur, who was then posted as land acquisition officer of Banka, had proceeded on leave on that day (July 12, 2012). However, she was made an accused on the statement of Mehta, who used to collect money on her (land acquisition officer's) behalf,' recalled the EOU official. Thakur was transferred to Bhagalpur as ADM from Banka on July 2, 2013.
A similar modus operandi was adopted by her to acquire land for the Pirpaithi power project. Around 900 acres of land were acquired for the power project, which was scheduled to start in 2014. However, the 1320MW power project got delayed due to non-payment of compensation by the department concerned.
During investigation, it came to the fore that Thakur had acquired 23 acres of land in Banka in the name of her kin. She had made huge investments in real estate, especially in an under-construction apartment near Rupaspur in Patna. Documents seized during search of her office and residential premises showed that she had purchased flats and plots in the name of her daughter Raj Shree Choudhary, son Rishikesh Choudhary and husband Rajesh Choudhary in Patna, Bhagalpur, Banka and Godda (Jharkhand).
'I have not seen any public servant gratify kith and kin in such a manner,' said an IPS officer who was then posted with the EOU. He said Thakur had transcended all limits to earn money through fraudulent means. The chargesheet in the case had already been submitted in the special vigilance court.
In the meantime, the Banka district administration today detected illegal transfer of Rs 18 crore from the account of the land acquisition officer to that of Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, taking the total amount to Rs 101 crore from the district.
Banka district magistrate Kundan Kumar said the defalcation of government funds was detected during assessment of status of funds of different departments by a team of officials headed by a deputy development commissioner. Earlier, an FIR was lodged in Banka police station after the defalcation of money to the tune of Rs 83 crore was lodged against the office bearers of Srijan, bank officials and government employees.