PATNA/BHAGALPUR: RJD leader and Bihar's former chief minister Rabri Devi today alleged the Nitish Kumar government killed six accused in the multi-crore rupees Srijan NGO scam by administering "poisonous injections" like many implicated in the Vyapam fraud in Madhya Pradesh.
"How have the six accused in the Srijan scam died? ... They were killed by poisonous injections," Rabri Devi, wife of RJD president Lalu Prasad, told reporters outside the Legislative Council in Patna.
The alleged Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti scam relates to fraudulent transfer of crores of rupees of government money to the NGO in Bhagalpur over several years.
"What happened to your antaratma ki awaz (inner voice) now when the accused in the Srijan scam are being killed?" she said, hitting out at the chief minister while drawing a parallel between the Srijan and Vyapam scams.
Many accused in the Vyapam racket involving fraudulent recruitment in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions had died under mysterious circumstances.
Inside the Council, RJD members created a din demanding admission of their adjournment notice to discuss the Srijan scam. The chair was forced to adjourn the House till 2:30 pm amid the ruckus.
She joined the chorus led by Lalu and their son Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, for resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi to enable conduct of an "impartial probe" by the CBI. Kumar had recently recommended a CBI inquiry in the scam.
Rabri also demanded that the CBI probe be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Modi disputed Lalu's claim that the CBI was yet to take up the case and showed a letter to journalists which said it had already done so on August 21.
On Lalu pointing an accusing finger at the government over the death of Mahesh Mandal, a prime accused in the alleged scam, Modi showed a letter from the Bhagalpur Senior Superintendent of Police informing the state police headquarters about his "critical" illness caused by failure of both kidneys.
Nitish Kumar's JD(U) hit back at Rabri Devi, with party spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar demanding that she disclose the names of six accused who she claimed were poisoned to death at the government's bidding.
He slammed Lalu and her for making "baseless" accusations against the state government of trying to destroy vital evidence in the case.
Meanwhile, a Bhagalpur court today issued arrest warrants against absconding additional district magistrate-cum-land acquisition officer Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Srijan secretary Rajni Priya and her husband Amit Kumar in the case.
Amit Kumar is the son of Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti founder Manorama Devi who died in February this year. The NGO is now being run by Manorama Devi's daughter-in-law Rajni Priya and Amit Kumar.
Chief Judicial Magistrate T Yadav accepted the prayer of inspector of Bhagalpur town police station and ordered that warrants be issued against them.