18 fodder scam convicts sentenced
By IANSTuesday, December 15, 2009
RANCHI - A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Tuesday sentenced 18 people in a case of the multi-million fodder scam to jail terms ranging from two to six years rigorous imprisonment.
Fines up to Rs.26 lakh were also slapped on the convicts in the case of fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.8.60 crore from the Ranchi treasury.
Special CBI judge S.K Dubey, who had Thursday convicted 48 people in the case and sentenced eight the same day to two to three years imprisonment, sentenced 18 convicts including the then regional director of the animal husbandry department, Junual Bhengraj, who got six years in jail.
The sentences to the remaining convicts will be announced Wednesday.
There were a total 58 accused in the case, of whom four died during the trial and two turned approvers.
The fodder scam surfaced in Bihar in 1996. A total of 61 cases were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out from Bihar in November 2000. The special CBI courts have passed judgments in 32 cases out of these.
