Mr Flood Scam Goswami is a wanted man

He said the reward amount is yet to be decided, adding public help was being sought as the whereabouts of Goswami—he quit the IAS earlier this year and joined the Sahara Group—and Jha were not known.

Neelmani said the two had not been declared absconders but ‘‘we are seeking public help to conveniently trace them.’’

On Saturday, this newspaper made repeated attempts to contact Goswami after he was named in the FIR. He could not be reached and a spokesman for his employers, Sahara Group, said he had ‘‘gone on long leave day before yesterday (Thursday).’’

Of the 28 accused, five have already been arrested: Sanjay Kumar Jha, manager of IDBI Bank in Patna where a fake account was being run, employee Shailendra Kumar; then director of the Bihar Small Scale Industries Corporation (BSSIC) Mukteshwar Prasad who is now a director with the Industries department, his employee Amlendu Choudhury; and the then Additional District Magistrate (Patna) Basudeo Prasad who was relief coordinator.

Their premises were raided and Neelmani promised more raids, arrests.

The FIR was lodged under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code charging Goswami and others with fraud, forgery, siphoning of government funds by entering into criminal conspiracy with the owners of some fake firms.

‘‘On investigation, all the accused have been prima facie found to be involved in the swindle of government funds worth several crores meant for relief,’’ Neelmani said.

A series of investigative reports in The Indian Express exposed how crores meant for the homeless in last year’s floods were siphoned off by a nexus of officials and contractors using fake bills, fudged records and ghost cheques.