PATNA, India, June 30 (UPI) -- The main suspect in a multimillion-dollar flood relief scam in the Indian state of Bihar surrendered to a special court after being on the run for a month.
Gautam Goswami, a former civil servant, is accused of siphoning off state funds for victims of monsoon floods that devastated Bihar in 2004, the BBC reported Thursday.
In the floods in Bihar, one of India's poorest states, about 1,000 people died and millions were made homeless. At that time, Goswami was a senior official in the Indian civil service administering the flood relief.
His flood relief work was internationally recognized when Time magazine labeled him an "Asian hero" and said he was a "bureaucrat (who) saves India's flood victims."
Bihar authorities have accused Goswami, along with more than 20 others, of organizing a $27 million scam.
Goswami has denied any misuse of funds. He told reporters, "There is no scam. The whole exercise was transparent. I don't know why people are dragging my name into this. What I think is people are simply jealous of me."
Wednesday the high court in the state capital, Patna, turned down his application for anticipatory bail.
