Patna: Suspended IAS officer S.M. Raju was quizzed over gross irregularities in scholarship disbursement among SC/ST students studying outside Bihar over four hours on Wednesday.

Sources in the vigilance investigation bureau said Raju was director of the Dalit Vikas Mission at the time of the financial bungling. He was summoned to the bureau's Punaichak office and served a questionnaire.

Raju, a 1991 batch IAS officer, was suspended last month. The interrogators sought to know from him how a student from Jehanabad district got enrolled in three coursesat a time, deriving benefits of the government welfare scheme, explain under what circumstances 16 students were admitted to the same trade (course) repeatedly.

The most glaring part was funds being released to the educational institutions without completing the courses, another bureau official told The Telegraph.

Apart from Raju, 15 other officials of the SC/ST Welfare department have been made accused in the case. They have been charged with siphoning of Rs 9 crore meant for students pursuing technical degrees in institutions outside Bihar during and before 2013-14.

A vigilance official said the bureau would file the chargesheet soon.