Patna, April 27: The vigilance investigation bureau today approached the special vigilance court seeking permission to interrogate suspended IAS officer S.M. Raju in connection with the SC/ST scholarship scandal.

Raju, a 19991-batch officer who was welfare department secretary when the scam took place. went on long leave soon after he was suspended in January this year, sources said.

On November 29 last year, an FIR was lodged against Raju and 15 others on the state government's directive. They have been accused of committing irregularities in the disbursement of post-matriculation scholarship to SC/ST students pursuing technical education outside Bihar during 2013-14 and earlier.

The state government ordered a vigilance bureau inquiry following an uproar in the Assembly over swindling of scholarship funds to the tune of Rs 9.75 crore.

"The bureau has found incriminating evidences against Raju," an investigating officer said. "He was directly involved with the scholarship disbursement process. Money was transferred to accounts of institutions that existed only on paper."

Vigiliance sources said in some cases money was transferred to institutions even after the students had left them and to institutions without any students. The court's permission is needed to quiz Raju because he is not in Bihar, a vigilance officer said. "He may have gone to his native place in Karnataka. The bureau team will complete all the legal formalities before departing for Karnataka, probably next week," the officer said.

Another senior vigilance bureau official said a team would visit Raju's native village, Sultanpet in Chikkaballa district of Karnakata.

"We recently came to know that he had proceeded on long leave after his suspension," the vigilance officer said. "His interrogation is mandatory to proceed in the case."

Raju was a member of the state revenue board when his suspension order was issued in January this year. He was asked to remain attached to the general administration department during the period of his suspension. However, he went on leave, a source in the department said.

During his deputation in Karnataka in 2003, Raju was arrested on charges of taking bribe from the officials of a private college in Karnataka. As a result, he was repatriated from Karnataka to his parent cadre, Bihar.

Raju is one among many IAS officers feeling law-enforcement heat in Bihar.

Two other IAS officers, Sudhir Kumar and C.K. Anil, are in the dock over the question leak in the clerical grade examination conducted by the Bihar staff selection commission.

Kumar, a 1987-batch officer, was arrested and sent to judicial custody. Anil, a 1991-batch officer, has failed to depose before the Patna police's special investigation team for questioning. Another IAS officer, Jitendra Kumar Gupta (2013-batch), was arrested by the vigilance bureau on corruption charges but he got reprieve from Patna High Court.

"Many other IAS officers of the state are on the radar of the police and other investigating agencies," a senior IAS officer revealed.