Bihar cops want Goswami remand stretched

‘‘We may seek extension of his vigilance remand which expires tomorrow if we fail to elicit more details,’’ the official added.

‘‘Goswami has not made any startling revelation so far. He always pleads innocence, arguing that the relief operation was carried out in accordance with the directives of his seniors from time to time,’’ he said.

The designated vigilance judge Jitendra Mohan Sharma had on July 1 allowed the bureau to take Goswami on five days remand for interrogation. When contacted, Neelmani, Additional Director General of the bureau, said all possible medical help was being arranged for Goswami.

After evading arrest for a month, Goswami had on June 30 surrendered at the Vigilance Court in Patna, after the Patna High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea.

With his surrender, most of the key accused involved in the scam are behind bars. These include: M Prasad, former director Bihar Small Scale Industries Corporation (BSSIC, the firm whose initials were used to float a dummy company Baba Satya Sai Industries into which the money came); S K Jha, Manager of IDBI Bank in Patna. Santosh Kumar Jha, who managed the fake BSSIC account, is also in jail. Amit, a computer operator in Goswami’s office who made a fortune off the scam is still absconding and Vigilance sleuths expect him to surrender in the next few days.