Patna/Bhagalpur, Sept. 20: Three more first information reports (FIRs) have been registered in connection with the Rs 1,000 crore Srijan government fund transfer scam, taking the total number of cases lodged to 15.

Three block development officers (BDOs) - of Sabour, Goradih and Shahkund - lodged complaints with the Bhagalpur Kotwali police station late on Tuesday evening alleging that funds to the tune of Rs 35 crore had been illegally transferred to the account of Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, the non-government organisation at the centre of the scam.

According to the FIRs, Rs 23 crore was transferred from the bank account of Sabour block; Rs 8 crore from that of Shahkund and Rs 4 crore from Goradih. The money, which was provided to the blocks under the Indira Awas Yojna, self-help group training programme and other welfare schemes, was transferred between 2006 and 2012.

Similar reports of diversion of funds have also come from Pirpainty, Kahalgaon, Naugachhia and Jagdishpur blocks, all in Bhagalpur district.

The FIRs were filed after Bhagalpur district magistrate Adesh Titarmare instructed BDOs to lodge police complaints on missing government funds from the accounts of the respective blocks. A senior police official said that more police complaints would be lodged in the coming days.

The Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) has already taken up the investigation of 10 FIRs lodged with different police stations in Bhagalpur district. The district police have already informed the CBI about the registration of new FIRs, a police official told The Telegraph under the condition of anonymity.

The official said that a major part of the money was returned by Srijan, but the transfer of money from the official accounts of the BDOs to those of the NGO was illegal. Hence, FIRs have been lodged for violating the prescribed rules, he clarified.

But what has baffled the investigating officers is that the BDOs concerned opened their accounts with a particular bank in Bhagalpur, allegedly to suit the vested interests of Srijan. The funds were mostly transferred to Srijan's accounts through the Bhagalpur branches of Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank.

'It is surprising that the BDOs opened new accounts with a particular bank in the district headquarters town despite the fact that these banks also have branches in the areas falling under their jurisdiction,' an investigating officer said.

A source said that the major part of the government money had been diverted to Srijan's accounts through cheques by allegedly forging the signatures of five former district magistrates - Santosh Kumar Mall, Bandana Preyasi, Narmadeshwar Lal, Bipin Kumar and Birendra Prasad Yadav.

The source said the five former DMs are likely to be issued notices by the CBI.