15 more awarded RI in fodder scam case

RANCHI: A special CBI court here on Wednesday sentenced 15 convicts to imprisonment of four years to six years in a fodder scam case (RC 44A/96) pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 8.6 crore from the Ranchi treasury.
The court also imposed fine, ranging from Rs 75 thousand to Rs 35 lakh, on them.
The court of CBI judge S K Dubey had on November 10 convicted 48 of the total 51 accused in the case while the three were acquitted for want of evidence.Eight of the convicts were awarded three years' imprisonment and granted bail the same day.
Later on Tuesday, 18 of the convicts in the case were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from three years to six years.
On Wednesday, the court awarded six years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) to seven of the remaining convicts, including former animal husbandry department (AHD) officials Dr K N Jha, Dr B N P Verma, Dr Hemendra Kumar Sinha and Dr D P Srivastav and former treasury officials K B Thakur, S K Kashyap and Ashok Kumar Singh.
Ravi Sinha, a Patna-based fodder supplier, was sentenced to four years' RI and fined Rs 35 lakh. Another supplier and owner of a drug firm, Devendra Kumar Roy was fined Rs 75 thousand and awarded four years' RI.
Two former AHD officials Dr Shailendra Bharti and Dr Kameshwar Sahay were awarded five years' RI and fined Rs 5.25 lakh each while four other suppliers Sanjay Sinha, Ram Nandan Singh, Satyendra Kumar Mishra and Dayanand Prasad Kashyap were awarded four years' RI each.
Hearing on the quantum of punishment to the remaining seven convicts will take place on Thursday, said special public prosecutor SK Lal.
The multi-crore fodder scam rocked undivided Bihar in 1990s with several state officials and politicians being accused of fraudulently withdrawing over a thousand crore from various district treasuries. The accused include the then chief minister Lalu Prasad whose name figures as a conspirator in six cases which are yet to be disposed of.
This was the 34th of the 53 fodder scam cases in Ranchi CBI courts to be disposed of. A few cases are pending in the Patna CBI court.