Muzaffarpur: Multiple cases of depositing unprecedented amounts in the bank accounts of common people in Bihar in the last 48 hours has not only shocked the account holders as well as banking authorities but both are clueless about the huge fund transfers. The moot question remains, where this money has come from and who is behind it. Now that Bihar police are in the loop, people are expecting a breakthrough into these unprecedented financial transactions.
A farmer, Ram Bahadur Shah, from Muzaffarpur district found himself in a similar situation when he received over Rs 52 crore in his pension account on Friday. This is the third incident that has been reported in the state in the past 48 hours.
All these incidents have raised many questions-who is responsible for transferring such huge amounts or it is just a notional credit. Does it involve the hand of money laundering gangs or just purely a technical glitch as claimed by the Katihar District Magistrate. In that case, is it safe to put your money in Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank which has been exposed due to these huge fund transfers. Though there is no connection between these account holders, one thing binds them-all are beneficiaries of state government schemes. "We can't completely rule out cyber crime fraud but also it is high time to re-look into govt scheme fund transfers," says a financial expert.
Actually, in the Bihar government monetary system, there is no such procedure where any single authority can release this huge amount in the accounts of the beneficiary. If we look into the Bihar monetary system a principal secretary can release Rs 10,000 in cash, while he can approve the highest amount of Rs 5 crores. The amount between Rs 5 to 15 crores can be only approved by the approval/purchasing committee consist of Principal Secretary, Secretary, joint secretary and directors but not in cash. The officials in the approval committee can be changed according to the departmental needs. Above 15 crores, only the state cabinet has the authority.
Despite government financial regularities in place, Ram Bahadur Shah, who hails from a village under the Katihar police station area in the Muzaffarpur district, received whopping Rs 52 crore into his account and he was surprised when a Customer Service Point (CSP) official informed him about the same on Friday.
In fact, the poor farmer requested the government to provide him with some of this money so that he could spend the rest of his life smoothly but in vain.
"We came to know about this fund transfer through media. We heard that more than Rs 52 crores has gone into the account of Ram Bahadur Shah(farmer) of Singari. Top officials have been informed," Manoj Pandey, sub-inspector, Katra police said.
Earlier on Thursday, more than Rs 960 crore were credited into the accounts of two students studying in Class VI in Bihar's Katihar district. Speaking over the matter Udayan Mishra, District Magistrate, Katihar, had said, "The amount is visible on the mini statement due to technical glitch but it is a notional credit."
Read: Two students receive Rs 960 crores in their bank accounts, bank officials baffled
