Ranchi: A former animal husbandry department regional director was among the 37 held guilty in a fodder scam case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 39.91 crore from Dumka treasury during fiscal 1991-92 to 1995-96, but as many as five suppliers were acquitted for lack of evidence.
O.P. Diwakar, then posted in Dumka, is currently lodged at Birsa Munda Central Jail since he has been held guilty in another fodder scam case.
Arguments on the quantum of sentence in case RC 45A/96 will start from Tuesday. For seven of those convicted _ the case had 42 accused in all _ arguments would be heard daily.
The judgment in the case is likely to be pronounced on April 17 or the day after.
Among those convicted are 21 suppliers and transporters who were held guilty under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using genuine a forged document) and 477A (falsification of account) of IPC.
The rest, all of whom were public servants when the crime was committed, were convicted under section 13 (2) read with 13(1) (C), & (D) of Prevention of Corruption Act, besides the aforesaid sections of IPC.
Five suppliers, namely, Benu Jha, Harish Khanna, Madhu Mehta, Lal Mohan Prasad and Saraswati Chandra, were acquitted for want of evidence.
Among the animal husbandry department (AHD) officials who were convicted are O.P. Diwakar, Bimal Kant Das, Dineshwar Prasad Sinha, Frederick Kerketta, Hemendra Nath Verma, Krishna Kumar Prasad, Krishna Murari Sah, Manoranjan Prasad, Manoj Kumar Srivastava, Nand Kishore Prasad, Pankaj Mohan Bhuin, Pitambar Jha, Radha Mohan Mandal, Shashi Kumar Sinha, Sardendu Kumar Das and Raghunandan Prasad, who was assistant director (poultry).
Initially, then Dumka SDO Rajiv Arun Ekka had lodged an FIR regarding fraudulent withdrawals on the instruction of the district administration. The CBI had filed an FIR against 72 accused on April 15, 1996 on the directive of Patna High Court and submitted a chargesheet against them in September 2003.
"During trial many accused died, some turned approver, two pleaded guilty and some absconded. Hence, 42 accused ended up facing trial," said a senior CBI official.
Among the accused, 17 people died in the course of trial, including then regional director Sheshmuni Ram.
Then divisional commissioner of Santhal Pargana S.N. Dubey, who was initially named accused, was discharged by Jharkhand High Court.
Five accused who turned approver were Rameshwar Prasad Choudhary, Md Syed, Shailesh Prasad Singh, Naresh Prasad and Shiv Kumar Patwari.
Two of the accused, Pramod Kumar Jaisawal and Sushil Kumar Jha, pleaded guilty and they were convicted.
