Ranchi, May 7: As many as 40 of the 41 accused in a fodder scam case, who were convicted by a CBI special court along with 29 others on May 3, were sentenced today.

One of the accused, block agricultural officer Sidhi Nath Pandey, did not turn up, prompting the court to issue a warrant against him.

The 29 others were sentenced on May 3 itself.

The case (RC 31A/96) relates to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 47.17 crore from the Doranda treasury during 1990 and 1995. An FIR was registered by the CBI at Doranda police station in March 1996.

Of the 40 who were awarded sentences today, 19 are government officials and 21 suppliers. The quantum of punishment was rigorous imprisonment ranging from four to seven years and fines between Rs 25,000 and Rs 2 crore.

The 19 government officials included two regional directors of animal husbandry department, Dr K.N. Jha and Dr Junul Bhengraj, and assistant director Dr K.M. Prasad. Each of them was handed seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2 crore.

The suppliers included Mohammed Sayeed, Vijay Kumar Mallick, Suresh Kumar Dubey, Satyendra Kumar Mehra and Dayanand Prasad Kashyap. Each of them was awarded rigorous imprisonment of five years, but the fine varied. Sayeed was slapped a fine of Rs 2 crore, Mallick Rs 1 crore while Dubey has to pay Rs 60 lakh and Mehra and Kashyap Rs 30 lakh each.

Speaking to The Telegraph, special public prosecutor of CBI S.K. Lal said: “There were as many as 111 accused in the case which was handed over to the CBI following a Supreme Court order in March 1996. Out of 111, 22 died while one turned approver and two pleaded guilty. The number of accused who faced trial remained 86, out of whom, 16 were acquitted after the court delivered its judgment. The remaining 70 were convicted. Out of 70, 29 were awarded sentences on May 3 and 40 today (Monday).”

As many as 53 fodder scam cases had been registered at seven special courts of CBI in the state capital. It is the 42nd case to get dispensed.