Court issues NBW against Goswami

A local court issued non-bailable warrants of arrest today against former Patna DM Gautam Goswami and eight others in connection with the mu...

A local court issued non-bailable warrants of arrest today against former Patna DM Gautam Goswami and eight others in connection with the multi-crore flood-relief scam in Bihar. The court ordered that the houses of the accused be searched and that Goswami’s passport be impounded.

The warrants against the rest of the 14 accused, besides the five who were held on Saturday and remanded to judicial custody, are likely to be obtained in a day or two, Vigilance sources said.

Designated Vigilance Judge J.M. Prasad ordered the issue of the warrants of arrest against Goswami and

eight others, including his assistant Amitav Arun and the proprietor of a ‘fake’ firm Santosh Kumar Jha, after accepting the petition of the state Vigilance Bureau probing it.

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Yesterday, the Bureau alerted airports and immigration check-post authorities across India to keep a look-out for Goswami and two other alleged kingpins of the scam.

The UP police has been asked for help, as Goswami was posted in Lucknow. The state Vigilance Bureau had announced a reward for information leading to the arrest of Goswami and Jha. Raids are being carried out across the state and in Lucknow to nab Goswami and the other accused who are at large, vigilance sources said.