Bihar: Company Under Investigation for Allegedly Bribing Bihar Officials
Urmila International Services Pvt Ltd, a Patna-based company owned by Kumar Avinash, is currently under investigation following a raid in February 2024. As per a media report, the income tax officials have received documents during the raid that suggest that the company was involved in distributing large amounts of money, gold, silver coins, and expensive gifts to many senior officials in Bihar’s government department, public sector enterprises, and other organisations. The detailed record also suggests the nature of this bribery network, which includes health, public administration and more.
The Income Tax Department claims that Kumar Avinash’s company played a key role in this whole network. As per the Income Tax officials, the company used to secure the appointment of candidates on a contractual basis in the government departments by giving bribes to the officials.
The records show that senior officials in Bihar’s Health Department, including Sanjay Kumar Singh, received huge payments. In April 2023, Singh allegedly received Rs 40 lakh and Rs 21 lakh in cash, along with a 10-gram gold coin. Other officers in the department also received payments, from Rs 1 lakh to over Rs 9 lakh in cash.
The company is also accused of influencing the Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation (BELTRON), a body that provides employees to the government of Bihar. In return, Kumar Avinash offered bribes to the BELTRON’s officials. Documents show payments of Rs 1 lakh made in July 2021 to BELTRON work and Rs 5 lakh to BELTRON and other amounts to various officials in exchange for placements.
The investigation also suggests that Avinash has funnelled funds to individuals in politics. A large, unrecorded payment of Rs 1.30 crore is alleged to have been given to an IT minister, while another Rs 7 crore was reportedly transferred to the residence of an individual known as “Deepak Sir“, connected with the Bihar government’s CS-Cell.
The officials also claim that at the district level, officials gave bribes and gifts to the District Programme Managers (DPMs) and District Monitoring Evaluators (DMNEs). From October 2022 to February 2023, district officials in Nawada, Begusarai, Patna, and other regions received large amounts of payments.
However, many officials are denying their involvement in this bribery. As per the media report, Pankaj Kumar, the food secretary, and Rajiv Roshan, the former District Magistrate of Hajipur, have refused to receive gifts or cash from Kumar Avinash.
Officials such as directors from various other departments, public sector banks, Railways and the Airport Authority are also being accused of receiving bribes and gifts from Kumar Avinash over the years. Many officials have been transferred, while some are still unreachable.
When Kumar Avinash was contacted by the media, he claimed that he intended to give these metals as gifts to the officials. He said he used to work with the officials and felt he should give them gifts, but no one accepted them.
