THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 3: The Rs 2-crore bank fraud involving District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) funds has assumed a new dimension with its former director K Sureshkumar, who is under orders of transfer, seeking the prosecution of General Education Secretary K Jayakumar for misleading the Government with an `extremely defamatory' inquiry report.Sureshkumar, who has accused Jayakumar of being a party to a conspiracy to oust him from his post, has also sought a detailed inquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau or by the CBI into ``the role of a top political functionary's son who influenced Jayakumar to retain DPEP funds in a particular bank''.The Central Administrative Tribunal also admitted a petition filed by Sureshkumar questioning the Government decision to transfer him as the director of DPEP on the basis of a report filed by Jayakumar.Sureshkumar, who had been the State Project Director of District Primary Education Programme since its inception was transferred following thedetection of the bank fraud even after the Financial Inspection Wing of the Government and the DPEP internal audit wing cleared him.The investigation revealed that a fixed deposit had been fraudulently opened in the Thiruvallom Branch of Bank of India and Rs 2 crore was transferred in a manner that fetched a higher interest. The resulting interest difference was later transferred to the account of one Sureshkumar at Attukal Branch of Dhanalekshmi Bank. The interest amount was transferred to another SB account at the Manacaud branch of SBT which was operated allegedly by a Bank of India official's wife.Transfer of any amount into FD could be done with the signatures of two officers Secretary, General Education (K Jayakumar) and the State Project Director (K Sureshkumar).However, Sureshkumar was transferred on the basis of an inquiry report filed by Jayakumar on the basis of the following reasons: 1. The control and leadership of the Project Director had weakened considerably 2. The bank managerinvolved in the irregularities is admittedly a friend of Sureshkumar. He however pleaded before the CAT and to the Chief Secretary that he had substantial evidence to prove his transfer was the result of a conspiracy by a group of people headed by a DPEP official against whom he had initiated disciplinary action.The major charges in the plea are: a) Very high political functionaries could be behind the real fraud, since in June 1997 Sureshkumar himself had initiated a proposal to transfer the Bank of India account to the city branch of any nationalised bank. Jayakumar had instructed him to retain the account at Thiruvallom. b) Jayakumar admitted to him on August 8 and 9 and `described in graphic detail' the manner in which he had himself been instructed by the son of a top political functionary (whom he named) to retain the bank account at Bank of India, which in turn actually facilitated the bank fraud.The plea also alleged that Jayakumar had deliberately concealed the crucial portions in the auditor'sreport and the fact that for any transaction above Rs 10 lakh required the signatures of both the General Education Secretary and the Project Director.The denialWhen contacted, General Education Secretary K Jayakumar refused to go on record on anything about the issues raised by the former DPEP director. `I do not want to say anything about the issue at this point,'' he told The Indian Express.The former DPEP director Sureshkumar who reveals that he has had two conversations with the former on the matter says that he had also formally represented his grievances before the Chief Minister, the Education Minister and the Chief Secretary. ``Nobody seems to be inclined to do anything about it,'' he says.
