LUCKNOW, June 18 -- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted searches at 14 locations across five districts of Uttar Pradesh in connection with an alleged Rs.4-crore embezzlement of government funds in the basic education department in Amethi. The searches were carried out in Lucknow, Ayodhya, Kushinagar, Pratapgarh and Amethi following the registration of a case by the CBI's anti-corruption branch, Lucknow, pursuant to directions issued by the Allahabad high court's Lucknow bench. According to the agency, the case was registered after the CBI took over investigation of an FIR lodged at Gauriganj police station in Amethi on March 21, 2025, based on a complaint filed by the finance and accounts officer of the basic education department, Gauriganj. The accused named in the case include Manoj Kumar Malviya, then junior accounts clerk in the department, Gauriganj; Abhishek Singh, block quality coordinator; Shivam Kumar Pandey, block MIS coordinator; Shravan Kumar Dwivedi, headmaster of a primary school in Jagdishpur and Shailesh Chandra Shukla, assistant teacher at a primary school in Gauriganj. CBI officials alleged that Malviya, while posted as junior accounts clerk, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the co-accused and other unidentified persons to divert government funds from the treasury into various bank accounts. Investigators suspect that approximately Rs.4 crore was siphoned off through the alleged illegal transfers. After verifying the identities and addresses of the accused and other suspects, CBI teams conducted coordinated searches on multiple premises on Wednesday. The agency said the searches resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents related to the alleged investment and utilisation of the embezzled funds. Officials also recovered digital devices and other articles considered relevant to the ongoing investigation. The CBI said further investigation is underway to ascertain the money trail....