Dead men tell no tales...

Or, do they?

Even as the noose of the fodder scam dangles precariously over Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, the mysterious death of a co-accused in the case has caused alarm in Bihar and become the subject of intense speculation from Patna to New Delhi.

Is a diabolical plot on to clinically finish off those who could reveal damaging facts about the Rs 9.5-billion scam to the CBI? Or is it all mere coincidence?

If there indeed is a sinister pattern to the whole thing, it can probably be traced back to September 1996 when a vehicle transporting some of the accused in the fodder scam was fired upon by unidentified criminals in broad daylight near the Central Revenue building roundabout in Patna.

Dismissing the whole episode as "criminal activity," the state police department chose to close the file. But now, the Central Bureau of Investigation has decided to reopen the case, contending it was a plot to kill the accused, as there was apprehension they might turn approvers.

Then, on November 19, 1996, Dr Lala Vishwa Mohan, an assistant director in the animal husbandry department at Jamshedpur, was run over by a speeding truck. He later died in hospital. Named among the accused, Lala had been most vocal about being falsely implicated and had threatened to turn approver.

Next to go was Manu Munda, driver of Dr Birsa Oraon, an accused in the scam. Munda was abducted on December 19, and killed the following day. The police version was the driver was abducted for ransom as Dr Oraon had, apparently, given him close to Rs 10 million. But the popular perception was that Munda was privy to some 'inside information' about the scam and was hence eliminated.

Soon afterwards, Dr J N Tiwari, a mobile husbandry officer and an accused, was killed in a road accident in Daltonganj district.

And then came Harish Khandelwal's mysterious suicide.

On May 7 morning, while on his customary round, railway gangman Durga Mahato discovered a headless corpse near the east cabin of the Baramasia-Dhokhra halt in Dhanbad district. The mutilated head lay in a bush some distance away. He immediately alerted the Dhanbad railway police who took charge. It was only two days later that the general railway police declared that some papers found in the dead man's pockets had helped ascertain his identity: Harish Khandelwal.

Thirtyeight-year-old Khandelwal was a co-accused in fives cases lodged in connection with the multi-billion rupee animal husbandry scam. A small-time supplier residing in Ranchi, Khandelwal had been summoned to Dhanbad by the CBI. According to CBI officer Rakesh Ashtana, he was being interrogated in connection with case no. RC 20/96, in which Laloo Prasad Yadav, former chief minister Jagannath Mishra, and 55 others have been named.

Naved Zahir in Patna. Kind courtesy: Sunday magazine

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