Fodder scam: Lalu Prasad Yadav is guilty in 4th case too

Former Bihar CM and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and 18 others were convicted in a fourth fodder scam case by a CBI court in Ranchi on Monday. The sentences are likely to be pronounced later this week.

Special CBI judge Shiv Pal Singh acquitted 12 others, including former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra, in the case that pertains to fraudulent withdrawal of over Rs three crore from Dumka district treasury.

The fodder scam is a collective term for a set of 64 cases that relate to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 1,000 crore in public funds in undivided Bihar, in the name of cattle fodder, besides medicine and equipment spends.

Lalu, 69, has been in Ranchi's Hotwar jail since December 23 after three previous convictions in the scam unearthed in 1996. He has been sentenced to 13.5 years in jail. Lalu is accused in two more pending cases of swindling money through fake bills and vouchers.

Lalu was hospitalised on Saturday and was not present when the judge pronounced the verdict on Monday.

RJD vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh termed the cases BJP's conspiracy.

Trouble mounts

• Lalu’s first fodder scam conviction came in 2013, when he was given a six-year jail term
• He was disqualified from Parliament and banned from contesting polls till 2024