Upen Biswas takes oath in Calcutta on Friday. Picture by Amit Datta

Patna, May 20: The man who is a part of Mamata Banerjee’s “poriborton (change)” in Bengal had also contributed to the huge shake-up that Bihar underwent over a decade ago.

Upen Biswas, a CBI joint director, was the officer who pursued the fodder scam cases in the nineties and forced then chief minister Lalu Prasad to resign. Biswas, described as “mad” by Lalu Prasad, today took oath as cabinet minister in the new Bengal government.

Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Modi couldn’t resist a jibe on hearing the news today. “Now Lalu Prasad should treat the new Bengal chief minister as a bigger enemy than Nitish Kumar and me. It is Mamata who has got Lalu’s tormentor in her cabinet.”

Modi was the main petitioner in the Rs 950-crore fodder scam cases involving Lalu Prasad, arguably the tallest of the political figures of that time, and other heavyweights. Though stated in a lighter vein, Modi’s remarks sums up Biswas’s personality and also the way he doggedly pursued the mega-scam.

An IPS officer pursuing the fodder scam cases in the capacity of CBI joint director, Biswas proved to be the nemesis for the RJD boss. Few people had seen the anxious sign of wrinkles on Lalu Prasad’s face till he encountered Biswas.

There was a sense of disbelief when Biswas summoned Lalu Prasad — then the all-powerful chief minister — to interrogate him for the first time in March 1997. “How can a policeman interrogate a chief minister? Lagta hai ki yeh aadmi (Biswas) poora pagal hai (It appears this man is thoroughly mad),” Lalu Prasad had famously said. “He (Biswas) should interrogate officials.”

But Biswas eventually had his way, interrogating Lalu Prasad for eight long hours and recording it too. True to his style, Lalu Prasad threw tantrums, initially refusing to speak with the tape recorder on. But Biswas “coerced” the then chief minister to “cooperate” with the investigation in the way an accused is supposed to.

The maverick politician had come to the CBI office in a colourful rickshaw, his face beaming and bubbling with confidence. But when he emerged after eight hours of interrogation, Lalu Prasad had a haggard look. “I have faith in the judiciary,” was all that he had said, his usual exuberance missing. Gone too was the rickshaw — Lalu Prasad sped away to his residence in his official car, red lights flashing.

That first session with Biswas had shaken up Lalu Prasad. He was a changed man after that, restraining himself from speaking against the officer whom he had described as a “mad man” a few days ago.

Through the duration of the fodder scam investigation, Biswas, a Buddhist by faith, lived a spartan life — staying at the poorly maintained Coal India guest house in the Boring Canal Road area in Patna. He seldom mingled with people. Even when this correspondent met him, he chose to speak more on Buddha and his teachings than about the investigation.

In a bid to woo Biswas, Lalu Prasad once went to Bodh Gaya to meet the officer’s spiritual guru, hoping for some succour. But Biswas’s guru told the RJD chief: “Upen is a true Buddhist who treads the path of righteousness. I can’t ask Upen to leave the path of righteousness.”

After Lalu Prasad eventually landed in jail for the first time in 1997, Biswas shared his thoughts on the RJD boss’s future philosophically, “Criminals always have a future but saints only have the past.”

Biswas’s prophesy turned out to be true. Lalu Prasad eventually came out of jail, won the Lok Sabha polls and became Union railway minister. Moreover, even after being charge-sheeted and jailed six times, Lalu Prasad virtually ruled Bihar with his wife Rabri Devi occupying the chair of chief minister.

Biswas and his Calcutta-based family got several threat calls while investigating the fodder scam cases. But he never asked for an increased security. Instead the steel inside the man showed. “I have got guerrilla training. It is not that easy for goons to catch hold of me. Also, I am a Buddhist who doesn’t fear,” Biswas would say.

The officer was treated as an epitome of honesty in Bihar’s civil society. He lived in a non-air-conditioned room at his guest house. He was usually seen eating roti and boiled vegetables for lunch. “I also take a piece of fish for dinner when I am home,” he would say, adding jokingly, “Kam khao aur gam khao (eat less and eat your grieves).”

Sushil Modi, then the leader of Opposition, lavished praise on Biswas today after receiving news of the officer becoming a Cabinet minister. “Had it not been for Biswas and the high court bench headed by SN Jha, Lalu Prasad would not have been tamed. I will congratulate Upen Biswas and wish him well,” Modi said.

In a way, Modi acknowledged that the CBI “crusader” who is a part of the upheaval in Bengal had a hand in rewriting the saga of political change in Bihar as well.