PATNA, May 30 -- Several Bihar government officials are under scrutiny after the Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) arrested a high-profile contractor from his Patna residence during a raid connected to alleged tender manipulation and money laundering cases, officials said on Friday. Rishu Shree, 40, has been accused of influencing the functioning of various departments and manipulating the tender processes for various big projects. He allegedly bribed government employees in return for securing contracts. The agency is also probing the commission network established for building a modelling centre worth Rs.125 crore in Supaul's Birpur. An ED investigation revealed that contractor Shree was allegedly running a special "Commission Model" and used to charge up to 3.5% commission for passing files in government departments and up to 7% for fixing tenders. "He built an entire "ecosystem" with senior IAS officers and influenced the transfer and posting of officers near and dear to him," an official said. The ED stumbled upon this information from an excel sheet, in which bribes were listed as "Departmental Expenses." In an official statement, SVU said, "Rishu Shree whose firms worked as contractors/sub-contractors in various Bihar government departments, is alleged to have a nexus with several government officials to secure tenders for illicit personal gains." Shree was forwarded to judicial custody on Thursday. The ED has already registered a money laundering case against him and his associates including IAS officer Sanjeev Hans and unknown government officials. Officials familiar with the matter said action could also be taken against several government officials in the coming days after concrete evidence is gathered. Investigation revealed that Shree paid bribes to Hans and the then officials of Water resources department (WRD), Urban development and housing department (UDHD), Building construction department (BCD), Bihar Medical Services & Infrastructure Corporation Limited (BMSICL) and Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCO) to secure contracts. "Many of the secretaries and principal secretaries of the WRD, UDHD, BCD, BMSICL, BUIDCO etc., are on the radar of the agency. We have gathered concrete evidence against them to take further action," said an official, who is part of the investigation team, adding that "None of the biggest tender was finalised without the consent of Rishu Shree." Even in Saharsa municipal corporation, Shree captured an entire tender worth Rs.100 crores related to installation of high mask lights, purchase of dustbins, installation of CCTV cameras, cleaning tenders, etc. through his various shell companies--like Panther Unit Infrastructure Private Limited, Matriswa Construction private limited, Zircon Facility, etc. "Rishu was planning to flee abroad with entire records related to FIR and ED investigation. Using his influence, he can tamper with evidence and documents related to the crime and even intimidate the witness. In addition to jewels worth crores, original papers of 47 land pieces have been found in the raid," said ADG (SVU) Pankaj Darad. He added that during investigation it came to light that Shree got a tender from the WRD for a Ahmedabad- based company Chevrox Construction private limited after paying a bribe and later transferred the tender order to his company's staff Santosh Kumar who is the director of Matriswa Construction private limited. Notably, the accused contractor had approached the Supreme Court seeking relief and challenging the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case. However, the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, declined to entertain the writ petition, and relegated him to raise all his contentions before the appropriate forum(s). The apex court had on October 17, 2025, stayed his arrest till November 10, 2025, with a view of enabling him to approach the appropriate forum (High Court, Patna). On October 31, 2025, Shree filed a Criminal Writ Miscellaneous petition before the Patna HC in connection with the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR, related to ED FIR) which was dismissed on May 18, 2026....