Ranchi, Aug. 10: RJD president Lalu Prasad today alleged that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Modi were the masterminds of the Bhagalpur treasury scam and promised to lodge a formal complaint with the CBI in Patna.
"Once Nitish and Sushil Modi realised that their joint venture scam would be exposed, they decided to withdraw from the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar to join the NDA and form the government to seek protection against any inquiry," the RJD chief said.
Lalu also alleged that Sabour-based NGO Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti, in whose account illegal withdrawals from a government treasury were deposited, was patronised by both Nitish and Sushil Modi.
"When I submit a letter to the CBI office in Patna, asking for a probe, the Union government should act. Now that the scam has been exposed, Nitish is trying to hush up the matter by forming a special investigation team," Lalu told reporters in Ranchi after appearing for hearings in two fodder scam cases.
Insisting that a fair probe would expose the involvement of several government officials and politicians, Lalu claimed the scam occurred between 2005 and 2016 when Nitish was chief minister and Sushil Modi his deputy and finance minister.
"During this time in Bhagalpur, Nitish and Modi appointed their trusted officials in various posts, including that of the district magistrate. This Rs 295-crore scam is just the tip of the iceberg... the scam runs beyond Rs 1,000 crore," he alleged. Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said in Patna today that the scam was to the tune of Rs 302 crore.
Lalu dubbed Nitish's proclamation of having "zero tolerance" towards corruption as complete eyewash.
" Nitish Kumar pahle tum apna lalach chodo fir mujhe lalach chhodne ki sikh dena. Tumhara chehra janta me expose ho chukka hain (Nitish Kumar, first give up your greed, then lecture me on mine. You have been exposed to the public)," he said, adding that the Bhagalpur scam was "bigger" than the fodder scam in which "I have been framed".
Earlier, appearing before the special court of Shivpal Singh, who is hearing cases RC 64A/96 and RC 38A/96, Lalu locked horns with the judge after his lawyers refused to allow their witness Sunil Kumar; a serving DG-rank Bihar police officer, to record his statement in RC 64A/96.
Defence lawyers Chitranjan Prasad and Prabhat Kumar argued that, one, they had submitted a time petition before the CBI court, seeking to adjourn recording of witness statements and, two, they had approached Jharkhand High Court to transfer both the cases to another court citing bias on the part of judge Singh.
The court, however, observed that the time petition held no water till such time the high court passed an order on Lalu's plea to transfer the cases. Judge Singh then went on to record the DG's statement himself.
The DG was asked about his posting as Patna SSP in July 1997 when the CBI wanted to arrest Lalu Prasad.
The defence lawyers refused to question the witness.
In RC 38A/96, the CBI produced handwriting expert V.G.S. Bhatnagar of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Calcutta.
Bhatnagar told the court he had examined the handwriting and signature of then BJP MLA and chairman of Public Accounts Committee Dhruva Bhagat who had recommended that PCA probe a fodder scam case.
