Patna, Jan. 6: Gautam Goswami, the IAS officer who was the main accused in the 2004 Bihar flood relief scandal, died of cancer at a hospital here today. He was 43 and is survived by his wife and two children.
The 1991-batch IAS officer, who received a gold medal for topping the MBBS exam from Benaras Hindu University, stayed behind the bars for 17 months for his alleged involvement in the scandal.
The year 2004 proved to be a year of both fame and infamy. Goswami was hailed as an “officer of high integrity” when he stopped the then deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, from carrying on his speech beyond the time stipulated by the Election Commission for the 2004 general elections. Time magazine also conferred the “Asian Hero” award on Goswami.
However, the vigilance bureau named Goswami, who was in charge of the relief operations in the north Bihar districts in 2004, as the main accused in the Rs 250-crore scandal.
Then the Patna district magistrate, Goswami was a good doctor and would give free medical advice to anyone who approached him, his peers said.
A court issued an arrest warrant in 2005. Goswami surrendered in June that year and was remanded in judicial custody. The government suspended him from service and he was jailed for 17 months.
Goswami had been battling pancreatic cancer for the past six months. The Bihar government revoked his suspension on December 8, 2008, on “humanitarian” grounds.