Date:01/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/01/stories/2007060103281300.htm

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Lalu's kin among 58 sentenced in fodder scam

Ranchi: A special CBI court here on Thursday sentenced 58 persons, including two nephews of Railways Minister Lalu Prasad, to jail terms ranging from two-and-a-half years to six years for fraudulently withdrawing Rs. 48 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s.

Judge Uma Shankar Prasad Sinha sentenced suppliers Nagendra Yadav and Virendra Yadav, the nephews of the RJD chief, and two other suppliers - Rakesh Mehra and Sanjay Kumar - to three years rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs. 1.45 lakh each in the case.

As many as 15 treasury and animal husbandry department officials, including two former regional directors - Junul Bhengraj and Ram Raj Ram - were handed out six years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 3.8 lakh each. In default of paying the fine, the convicted will have to undergo one more year of rigorous imprisonment. Altogether, 38 other suppliers, including five women, were sentenced to prison terms ranging between two-and-a-half years and five years and a fine of upto Rs. 2.75 lakh each. The sentence of another official Dr. G.P. Tripathy was not pronounced. - PTI