Thursday, June 9 2005 14:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Bihar Governor Buta Singh today (June 9, 2005) said Vigilance Bureau sleuths are on the job to apprehend former Patna district magistrate Gautam Goswami and others allegedly involved in the multi-crore-flood relief scam.

''I am fully satisfied with the inquiry by the Vigilance Bureau. All the accused, including Goswami, who are at large will be arrested soon,'' Singh told reporters at his secretariat chamber in Patna.

State police chief Ashish Ranjan Sinha, who was present during the meet, said he had already approached his Uttar Pradesh counterpart seeking his cooperation to trace Goswami.

''Vigilance sleuths are on the job in Lucknow and Varanasi and raids are being carried out at different places to arrest Goswami and the others,'' he said.

Sinha also confirmed that the Sahara Group Parivar management had terminated the services of Goswami who had joined the company as senior vice-president in January after resigning from the Indian Administrative Service.

Of the 28 persons named accused in the FIR registered by the bureau, six of them, including the alleged kingpin of the scam and supplier Santosh Kumar Jha have already been remanded to judicial custody.