48 convicted, nine sent to jail in fodder scam case

By IANS,

Ranchi : A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here Tuesday convicted 48 people in a case related to the infamous multi-million rupee fodder scam in Bihar's animal husbandry department and sentenced nine of them to three years of rigorous imprisonment.

Special CBI judge Pankaj Kumar passed the judgement in the case regarding fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.110.9 million from the Doranda treasury in the early 1990s.

All the 48 accused were convicted by the court for having withdrawn money from the treasury by producing fake bills. Nine, including four women, were sentenced to three years in jail.

The quantum of sentence for the others will be announced July 2.

Sixty-one cases were lodged by the CBI in relation to the fodder scam, which surfaced in 1996. Of them, 53 were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar in November 2000.

According to CBI sources, government officials swindled more than Rs.9.5 billion in the name of fodder with help of fake suppliers and politicians.

Till now, special CBI courts have pronounced their judgements in 30 cases and more than 230 accused have been convicted.

Former railway minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra were accused in five fodder scam cases.