Patna, Oct. 8: Former vigilance officer Umesh Prasad Singh, whom former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had accused of paying bribes to several JD(U) leaders in the fodder case, refuted the charges today.

Singh, who retired as section officer, told reporters that Modi’s statement that several JD(U) leaders, including chief minister Nitish Kumar and party MPs Shivanand Tiwary and Lalan Singh, were paid bribes by fodder scam kingpin late Shyam Bihari Sinha was based on a concocted statement made before the police officers, who had hatched a conspiracy to shield then chief minister Lalu Prasad in the multi-crore scam.

Lalu Prasad was convicted and awarded a five-year jail term in the fodder scam case by a special CBI court in Ranchi on October 3.

Singh, who was earlier arrested and forwarded to jail by the CBI in the fodder scam case and subsequently absolved of the charge, alleged that Modi suddenly appeared on the scene and raised the issue because he intended to strengthen his position within the BJP and win the confidence of its top leadership. “They (senior party leaders) are fully aware how the party has gone to the dogs under the leadership of Sushil Modi in Bihar in the past seven years,” he added.

Referring to the confessional statement of Shyam Bihari, the base of Sushil Modi’s accusations, Singh said the statement was recorded before IPS officer N.C. Dhondhiyal and Shravan Kumar, who were then posted as superintendent of police and deputy superintendent of police at CBI, Ranchi, respectively.

Lalu in court

Jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad, sitting JD(U) MP Jagdish Sharma and former MLA R.K. Rana on Tuesday appeared through video-conferencing before a special CBI court in another fodder scam case in Ranchi.

The statement of a prosecution witness, Jay Narayan Prasad Verma, was recorded in the case pertaining to alleged withdrawal of Rs 39 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s by producing false bills.