PATNA, June 11 -- Bihar's Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) on Wednesday arrested three government employees, including a retired official, for their alleged involvement in a tender scam linked to some senior IAS officers and involving the parallel system run by arrested tender mafia Rishu Shree, known for distributing largesse to officials down the line to procure tenders. After questioning them at their respective residences in connection with the case, the SVU arrested a joint secretary-level officer Mumukshu Choudhary from the finance department, retired chief engineer Tarini Das from the building construction department, and executive engineer Umesh Kumar Singh from the urban development and housing department, officials said. Another key accused, IAS officer Sanjeev Hans, could not be traced. SVU official claimed he was currently out of the state. It was during the investigation of a different case involving Hans that the name of Rishu Shree surfaced, as a man who played with tenders due to his proximity with several senior IAS officers. All three were produced before the special vigilance court in Patna, where the agency is likely push for their custodial remand to give investigators more room to dig into their bank records, property holdings, and high-profile connections in the bureaucracy. According to investigators, the three arrested persons enjoyed the bounties from tender king Rishu Shree, who essentially ran a back-channel operation where government tenders were quietly steered toward his company, Reliable Infra Services and 11 others. He allegedly worked as an illegal middleman, nudging procurement processes in his favour while keeping officials under his command. Each of the arrested had a specific set of allegations against them, especially use of their position to provide illegal benefits and inside information to Rishu Shree, said an SVU official. Mumukshu Choudhary's name started surfacing when SVU investigators began tracing how contracts in municipal bodies found their way to firms tied to Rishu Shree. Choudhary is accused of actively facilitating that process during his time in different roles, especially as municipal commissioner in Sitamarhi and Saharsa. Earlier raids at his residence reportedly yielded Rs.2 crore cash and incriminating documents. The allegations against Tarini Das are that construction project tenders were manipulated to benefit specific companies during his tenure as chief engineer of building construction department, and he also enjoyed extended service due to his role. The ED had earlier raided his home recovering Rs.8.53 crore in cash. That finding was serious enough for the government to initiate departmental action against him even before Wednesday's arrest despite the patronage of a minister he had. Umesh Kumar Singh, then BUIDCO executive engineer, is accused of accepting bribes from contractors linked to the Rishu Shree group and, in return, facilitating payments on bills that shouldn't have gone through. His name came up independently during parallel investigations run by both the SVU and the ED. The raid at his residence had also yielded Rs.1 crore in cash. Sanjeev Hans, a senior bureaucrat whose name came up during the investigation, is currently believed to be outside Bihar, while teams raided his residence near Urja Stadium and office of revenue department. "Finding him is a priority, as he is a named accused. He had gone to office on Tuesday, but may be, he got tip off and fled. He is at present out on bail in a different case of ED," said a senior SVU official. Earlier, the Bihar government had suspended two serving IAS officers -Yogesh Kumar Sagar and Abhilasha Kumari Sharma- in connection with the case. Both are facing allegations tied to money laundering connected to tender manipulation. Their suspensions followed investigations examining the flow of funds and how government contracts were allegedly being redirected for personal gain. However, officials in the General Administration Department (GAD) are tight lipped on further action, even as the Opposition has been questioning the lodging of FIRs against them. "Getting two serving IAS officers suspended in a single case is not a routine occurrence. It signals that the government, at least at the level of taking administrative action, is not treating this as a minor irregularity. But more officials might came under the ambit of the probe and, perhaps, that the government wants to avoid," said an official. So far, SVU has arrested 5 persons in the case. The first arrest was that of Rishu Shree. SVU ADG Pankaj Darad said the tender scam was being investigated deeply. "The legal screws will be tightened on those against whom evidence is found," he added. The then director DRDA was given the additional charge of municipal commissioner Sitamarhi by Rishu Shree and with his cooperation many tenders of urban development scheme were won. During Chaudhary's posting, he received tenders in his favour and paid bribes. A cash commission of 3:5 per cent was given to Tarini Das for the tender in the building construction department in return for passing several contracts. Umesh Singh was given a commission of one per cent for drainage pumping station work and other tenders. "The three arrested, along with other officials, have committed criminal conspiracy and embezzled government money to make the government tender and government secrecy in their favour," said THE SVU ADG. Hans's counsel Farrukh Khan said he was unaware of any raid nor had his client received any notice. "My client was busy with some puja and he has Not gone anywhere. He got bail from Patna HC, when this case was also under investigation. My client never served jn the departments, which are under scanner in Rishu Shree case," he added....