Patna: The education department on Thursday suspended Bhagalpur district education officer (DEO) Chandan Kumar and district programme officer (DPO), establishment, Shashi Chandan Chaudhary, over alleged salary payments of over Rs 98 lakh in the name of a purported fake teacher in Sultanganj block. The action followed an inquiry report submitted by Bhagalpur district magistrate Alankrita Pandey.Vijay Kumar Pandey, director (administration) in the education department, issued the suspension orders following the district administration’s report dated Oct 9.According to the allegations, a computer operator, Avinash Raj, who had been working on contract in the department’s establishment branch since 2019, created a fake ‘specific teacher’ ID in the name of Tanushree and allegedly misappropriated the amount through salary payments processed on the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) portal.The alleged fraud came to light on Oct 8, when the HRMS central investigation team based in Patna detected the suspicious ID while verifying digital records. A preliminary inquiry reportedly indicated the direct involvement of Avinash Raj.An FIR was registered at Jogsar police station on Oct 9. The department is now set to examine appointment, service and salary records to establish how the payments were authorised and fix responsibility.The DEO has been placed under suspension with immediate effect. During the suspension period, his headquarters will be the office of the regional deputy director of education in the Purnia division. The inquiry report reportedly levelled serious allegations against him.The DPO’s suspension is effective from Oct 9, the date he was taken into custody, and will continue until further orders. The departmental order linked his arrest to the FIR concerning salary payments through the HRMS portal in the name of the purported fake teacher. During his suspension, his headquarters will be the office of the regional deputy director of education in the Darbhanga division.The Bhagalpur DM said, “The education department had sought a report on the matter. The district administration subsequently prepared and forwarded the report, on the basis of which the two officials were suspended.”
