The Crime Branch has found that M R Bijlal, the senior accountant accused of swindling Rs 2.73 crore from the treasury, got the username and password to ratify his fraudulent transaction from former sub-treasury officer Bhaskaran.

The case against Bijulal is that he transferred Rs 2.73 crore from the official account of the District Collector to his personal accounts.

Bhaskaran told the police during questioning that he had indeed given the password to Bijulal for closing and it was an act done in good faith and trust. He said he was totally unaware of any fraud that Bijulal had committed.

Bhaskaran told the police that he had gone home earlier than usual on March 30 and called Bijulal on phone to do the daily closing of accounts. He had then given Bijulal the credentials. Bhaskaran could be made the main witness in the case.

Bijulal's wife, Simi, and sister Bindu had told the police that they had no idea of Bijulal's antics. Simi said she never knew that her account was used to park the money Bijulal had transferred from the exchequer. Simi is a teacher in the state government service and is now the second accused in the case.

Bindu admitted to the police that Bijulal had given her Rs 5.5 lakh. The crime branch special team headed by Assistant Commissioner M K Sulfikar and Circle Inspector, Vanchiyoor, would seek custody of Bijulal for detailed questioning.

Vigilance probe

The state government is likely to involve the Vigilance in the investigation. The investigating officers are expected to meet the Vigilance Director today. The crime branch is of the opinion that there should be an investigation under the anti-corruption law against other officials at the treasury as they took no action in spite of Bijulal committing a similar offence three months ago.

History of the crime

Bijulal's first illegal transaction was on December 23 when he transferred Rs 3,000 to his account. Gaining a certain confidence, he started siphoning off higher amounts, running into lakhs. On July 27, he managed to transfer Rs 2 crore, pointing to the fact that Bijulal had been indulging in the malpractice for over seven months. The remand report said Bijulal had swindled Rs 2.73 crore from the treasury. He transferred it to his treasury account.

It is now known that the Treasury Officer had hushed up an incident where Bijulal 'stole' Rs 60,000 in cash from the treasury counter. The remand report indicated that the inquiry would extend to the treasury officer and others who worked with Bijulal.

Card game addiction

The police said Bijulal had confessed to investigators that he had lost Rs 10 lakh in online card games.

Sources said Bijulal was 'addicted' to online rummy, a high-stakes card game wherein the players could lose or earn money. Bijulal had lost many lakhs and he was desperately trying to regain lost cash by playing more.

Modus operandi

Sources in the treasury said Bijulal made use of loopholes in the software used by the department to make illegal transactions. The department sources said such transactions would go undetected in the midst of routine activity and only conclusive and larger audits and checks could spot it.