All the 17 arrested accused in the Rs 1,000-crore government fund transfer scam in Bhagalpur were on Tuesday produced in the special CBI court in Patna under tight security arrangements.

After hearing both the defence and the prosecution, additional chief judicial magistrate Kumari Vijaya remanded the accused to judicial custody till October 17 at Bhagalpur central jail.

Last week, the special CBI court headed by Gayatri Kumari had issued production warrants against the accused in the case being probed by the CBI. Following the directive of the court, all the 17 accused, including two women, in the scam-related cases were brought to Panta from Bhagalpur last night and produced in the court today.

A senior police officer posted in Bhagalpur said while 16 of the accused were taken to Patna from Bhagalpur central jail and Bhagalpur camp jail, one more accused person A.K. Singh would be produced in the court from Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where he was undergoing treatment. Singh was shifted to PMCH on the directive of the court.

The officer, who didn't wish to be named, said that while 13 persons were lodged in the Bhagalpur camp jail, three were lodged in Bhagalpur central jail. A contingent of armed police force was assigned to escort the accused to Patna from Bhagalpur and back.

Last week, the residents of Bhagalpur were taken aback when they came to know about sudden transfer of CBI officer S.K. Malik from Bhagalpur to New Delhi. Malik was heading the 20-member CBI team probing the scam.

Sources said additional superintendent of police Malik was removed after he requested the CBI court to issue arrest warrants against certain politicians and bureaucrats allegedly involved in the mega scam.

The investigation carried out by the Bihar police's special investigation team had found the involvement of at least five IAS officers who had earlier served as district magistrates (DMs) of Bhagalpur.

'These officers are still under the scanner of the CBI,' the police officer told The Telegraph.

Among the four politicians on the radar of the CBI, one is a Union minister while another is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand. The third leader under the scanner is a former BJP MP, while the fourth is a JDU leader.

The JDU leader was suspended after his name figured in the scam.