The Bihar Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) on Wednesday, 10 June arrested three senior government officials in the alleged Rishu Shree tender scam, as investigators tightened their probe into corruption linked to contract allocations and bill clearances across multiple state infrastructure projects. The arrests were registered under SVU Case No. 5/25.

The Arrested Officials

Those taken into custody are Mumukshu Chaudhary, Joint Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Bihar; Tarani Das, Chief Engineer, Bihar Construction Department (BCD); and Umesh Kumar Singh, Executive Engineer, Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD). According to officials, the SVU was interrogating all three arrested accused, with production before a court expected later the same day.

Senior IAS Officer Remains Untraceable

Senior IAS officer Sanjeev Hans, also named in the case, remained untraceable as of Wednesday. Sources indicated he is believed to have left Patna, and SVU teams were conducting raids at multiple locations in an effort to locate him. His continued absence marks one of the most closely watched developments in the investigation.

Disciplinary Action and ED Involvement

The Bihar government has already taken disciplinary action, suspending IAS officers Abhilasha Sharma and Yogesh Kumar Sagar in connection with the probe. Separately, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been running a parallel investigation, having earlier conducted raids and reportedly recovered crores of rupees from premises linked to accused officials.

According to ED investigation documents, several officials allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for awarding government contracts and clearing project bills. Others named in those records include Awaz Ahmad, Deputy Project Director, BUIDCO; Sagar Jaiswal, DGM (Projects), BMSICL; Vikash Jha, DGM, BMSICL; and Saket Kumar, Executive Engineer, BCD.

Projects Under Scrutiny

The investigation has placed several state infrastructure projects under the scanner, including 33 drain bioremediation projects, the Biharsharif STP and sewerage network project, the Muzaffarpur STP and sewerage network project, and the Biharsharif Smart Road project. Investigators reportedly found that financial entries under heads such as 'Miscellaneous' and 'Upfront Payment' in these projects were linked to alleged illegal payments to officials.

ED documents further indicate that Santosh Kumar allegedly admitted during questioning that cash was generated through inflated or fictitious project expenditures, and that the funds were subsequently used to bribe officials and acquire immovable property, according to the allegations.

Scale of the Crackdown

The latest arrests represent a significant escalation in one of Bihar's most closely watched corruption investigations, drawing in senior bureaucrats across multiple departments, private contractors, and a string of publicly funded infrastructure projects. With the SVU and ED conducting simultaneous operations, further arrests and recoveries cannot be ruled out in the days ahead.