Fodder scam case: CBI court sends 35 convicts to jail for 4 years

The case is related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 36.59 crore from Doranda treasury of undivided Bihar between 1990 and 1995

Ranchi: A special CBI court here on Friday sentenced 35 persons convicted in a fodder scam case earlier this week to four years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed fines ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 crore.

The case is related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 36.59 crore from Doranda treasury of undivided Bihar between 1990 and 1995.

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CBI special public prosecutor Ravi Shankar said special CBI judge Vishal Srivastav pronounced the quantum of sentence against the 35 convicts, who were once suppliers and officers of the animal husbandry department of Bihar. They were held guilty by the court on Tuesday.

Officials said former department officials Gauri Shankar Prasad was fined of Rs 1 crore, Sharad Kumar (Rs 40.4 lakh) and Bijayaeshwari Prasad Sinha (Rs 36.1 lakh) in the case.

Out of the 124 accused in the case, the court had acquitted 35 persons and sentenced 54 to various terms, with the maximum being three years, on August 28.

The scam in which crores of rupees were fraudulently withdrawn from treasuries such as Doranda, Deoghar, Dumka and Chaibasa was exposed in the 1990s when Jharkhand was part of Bihar.

RJD president and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad is one of the high-profile politicians who was convicted in the case. He is currently out on bail on the ground of ill health.