District administration and police officers seize land of former Primary Agriculture Co-operative Society manager Rudranand Jha in Araria. Picture by Mohan Mahato

Circa 2005: A man’s annual income between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000. Mode of transport bicycle

Circa 2008: The man owns several plots at his native village Jehti and Palasi bazaar in Araria district on India-Nepal border. A fleet of cars at his disposal

Circa 2012: The man in question cooling his heels at Araria district jail for amassing huge property through fraudulent means

Fifty-year-old Rudranand Jha’s fortune has come a full circle. Rising from rags to riches, the former manager of Primary Agriculture Co-operative Society (Pacs) is virtually a pauper now.

The officials of Araria district administration have confiscated all his immovable property, worth several crores, on the directive of the court for embezzlement of Indira Awas Yojana funds disbursed through Pacs. His assets were seized under the provision of Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944.

Jha’s palatial multi-storeyed building at Palasi Bazaar became an eyesore for many residents of the township. They were taken by surprise by his phenomenal rise.

Apart from Jha, the property of a middleman and Jha’s co-villager Ram Pukar Choudhary has been confiscated. “The process for confiscation of property of two others is underway. We hope to obtain the court’s order by the end of this month,” said deputy inspector-general (Purnea range) Amit Kumar.

Kumar said it is perhaps the first occasion in the recent past when the property of any middleman had been confiscated under the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944. “Though the law exists for long, it has been implemented for the first time in the state,” he said.

According to sources, 14 plots purchased by Jha between 2005 and 2010 had been confiscated. The investigating officers procured land registered deeds of all the plots from the registration department office at Araria.

Jha and Choudhary (45) are among 200 beneficiaries of about Rs 30 crore financial bungling in the execution of Indira Awas Yojana in Araria district between 2000 and 2008. The accused included the deputy development commissioner, the district magistrate and the block development officers (BDOs) then.

The probe started on the directive of chief minister Nitish Kumar, who received numerous complaints about financial irregularities in the implementation of Indira Awas Yojana during his Vishwas Yatra in 2010. DIG Kumar was assigned to conduct an in-depth investigation.

The DIG was stunned to find even the officials involved in swindling of funds became complainants in the FIRs lodged at different police stations.

“It was similar to the adage ‘badi machhli chhoti machhli ko khati hai (big fish eats small ones)’,” Kumar told The Telegraph.

During investigation, it came to light that several block development officers of the district then had deposited funds in the account of the Pacs instead of any nationalised bank to earn more interest and also to vitiate the process. Even funds of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and other schemes were deposited with Pacs to suit the vested interests of the officials.

To the utter surprise of the investigators, the officials of the Pacs had even granted loan for vehicles to some residents. “A fresh FIR was lodged by the station house officer of Palasi police station on the basis of the statement of Jha (one of the beneficiaries). His statement was recorded in the court under Section 164 of CrPC, in which he confessed the crime and disclosed the modus operandi,” the DIG said.

Total 152 persons have been made accused in the FIR.

Sources in the state headquarters said the government had already given sanction of prosecution against some of the public servants. “In some case, the prosecution sanction is awaited,” a senior officer said.

The government recently dismissed six BDOs involved in the funds embezzlement under Indira Awas Yojana.