Patna/Bhagalpur, Aug. 26: The CBI today formally took over the investigation of the 10 cases lodged in connection with the fraudulent transfer of government funds to the accounts of Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited.

Authoritative sources in the CBI said that only 10 of the 14 FIRs lodged in Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa districts have so far been taken over by the agency. The Bihar police had provided translated copies of the 10 FIRs to the CBI till Friday. Three more cases were later sent to the CBI headquarters in New Delhi, sources in the state police headquarters said.

An official media statement issued by the agency said: "The CBI has registered ten cases on the request of the Bihar government and further notification from the government of India and taken over the investigation of the said cases from Bihar police. The said cases relate to alleged illegal transfer and misuse of funds from government bank accounts in the districts of Bhagalpur and Saharsa in fraudulent and conspiratorial manner. Out of these, nine cases were related to Bhagalpur and one to Saharsa districts."

Soon after the CBI took over the investigation, a four-member team from Delhi reached Bhagalpur and searched the house of the late Manorama Devi, Srijan's founder-secretary who passed away last February.

A source said the locks of Manorama Devi's palatial house were forced open as her son Amit Kumar and daughter-in-law Priya Kumar are absconding.

While Priya was serving as secretary, her husband Amit worked as advisor of Srijan, which has been accused of siphoning off public welfare funds to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore in collusion with government employees and bank officials since 2003.

The accused have been booked for criminal conspiracy, cheating by impersonation, criminal breach of trust, forgery of valuable security for cheating and using as genuine forged documents under sections 120B, 406, 409, 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.

Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police Manoj Kumar, who is part of the special investigation team constituted by the state government, said all relevant documents would be provided to the CBI. "We are ready to cooperate with the investigating agency, if required," he added.

So far 18 persons have been arrested in the case and look-out notices have been issued against Priya Kumar and Amit Kumar. The Bhagalpur district magistrate has written to the government to initiate disciplinary action against former land acquisition officer Rajiv Ranjan Singh, who has not attended office ever since his name figured in the scam.

Singh, a resident of Bhojpur district, is at present posted with the district citizens' grievance redress cell. The nazir (accountant) of the district treasury, Amrendra Prasad Yadav, who is a complainant in one of the FIRs lodged with Tilka Manjhi police station in Bhagalpur, is also traceless. The SIT has since made Yadav an accused as his role was found to be suspicious.

In the meantime, the Bhagalpur district authorities have initiated an investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of welfare department nazir Mahesh Mandal in judicial custody on Sunday night. A team headed by additional deputy collector Ibrar Alam visited the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital and inquired about Mandal's death.