Those who looted Bihar are punished, says MP Sushil Modi on Lalu Yadav's conviction

The former Bihar deputy chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi on Tuesday said those who looted the state were now being punished while speaking on the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's conviction. 

Modi said they were the first to approach the Patna high court, demanding the CBI inquiry. Modi said, "I feel happy," adding, "those who looted Bihar are being punished." He said Lalu Prasad is no longer relevant in the state's politics.

Earlier in the day, Lalu Yadav was convicted in the Rs 139.5 crore Doranda treasury embezzlement case by the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi.

The CBI will announce the quantum of Lalu Prasad Yadav's punishment, on February 18, as per the CBI counsel. The sentence was announced by Judge CK Shashi. 

On Sunday, Lalu Prasad Yadav arrived in Ranchi, to be physically present in court for the hearing. 

Previously, Yadav has been convicted in four other fodder scam cases for illegal withdrawals of Rs 37.7 crore and Rs 33.13 crore from the Chaibasa treasury, Rs 89.27 crore from the Deoghar treasury, and Rs 3.76 crore from the Dumka treasury. The Rs 950 crore scam occurred between 1991 and 1996 when Yadav was the Chief Minister of Bihar. 

Yadav was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for involvement in the fodder scam cases. He challenged all of his convictions. In the Chaibasa Treasury Scam case, he obtained bail in October 2020, and in the Deoghar Treasury Scam case, he received bail in February 2020. Recently, he was granted bail in the Dumka Treasury case.

Other prominent defendants in the embezzlement case include former MP Jagdish Sharma, the then-chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Dhruv Bhagat, Animal Husbandry secretary Beck Julius, and Animal Husbandry assistant director Dr K M Prasad.

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