9 more convicted in fodder scam

RANCHI: A CBI court on Tuesday convicted nine accused in the infamous fodder scam of united Bihar. All the nine convicts were government officials in accounts and audit and animal husbandry departments.
Special CBI judge A H Ansari sentenced nine out of the 44 remaining accused, who were found guilty in case number RC 46 (a)\ 96. The case was related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 19.20 crore from Doranda treasury in Ranchi by using fake papers.Total number of accused in the case was 52. The court had already announced quantum of sentence and penalty on eight accused on Monday.
All the nine convicts — K M Prasad, B B Prasad, Junul Bhengra, K N Jha, Radha Raman Sahay, Braj Bhusan Singh, Fenindra Kumar Tripathy and Braj Nandan — were sentenced to five to six years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on each convict. Quantum of punishment for the remaining accused will be announced on Wednesday.
The multi-crore rupee scam, popularly known as the fodder scam, surfaced in 1996 during undivided Bihar. Total 53 cases related to the scam were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar on November 12, 2000. Special CBI courts have passed judgments in 32 cases related to this scam so far .Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra have been named as accused in five cases.