A special CBI court on Tuesday convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad in the Rs 139.35 crore Doranda treasury embezzlement case.
Prasad has already been convicted in four other cases of the fodder scam.Earlier, the RJD supremo arrived in Ranchi on Sunday to be present in the court during the hearing.The court on January 29 had completed hearing arguments in the Rs 139.35 crore Doranda treasury embezzlement case involving Prasad and had reserved its verdict.The court of Special CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) Judge SK Shashi had completed the hearing against 99 accused including Prasad, which was under way since February last year.Arguments on behalf of the last accused, Shailendra Kumar, were completed on January 29. All the accused had been ordered to be present in the court on the day of the verdict.Of the original 170 accused in the case, 55 have died, seven have become government witnesses, two have accepted the charges against them and six are absconding.Apart from Prasad, former MP Jagdish Sharma, the then Public Accounts Committee chairman Dhruv Bhagat, Animal Husbandry Secretary Beck Julius and Animal Husbandry Assistant Director KM Prasad were the main accused.
The Rs 950-crore scam relates to fraudulent withdrawal of public funds from government treasuries in various districts of undivided Bihar.
