CBI raids homes of Laloo's aide, 6 IAS officers in fodder scam

Central Bureau of Investigation sleuths on Tuesday raided the homes of six senior IAS officers allegedly involved in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam, besides the house of the private secretary to Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

A large number of incriminating documents and property disproportionate to their known sources of income have been seized.

Official sources said the raids were conducted at the homes of five senior bureaucrats -- Beck Julius, Phoolchand Singh, Mahesh Prasad, Sajal Chakravarty and K Arumugam.

The raids were also conducted at the home of another senior IAS officer attached to the chief minister's secretariat besides Mukul Kishore Kapoor, Laloo Yadav's private secretary.

CBI teams from Dhanbad, Patna and Ranchi were pressed into the raids accompanied by the local armed police force.

Laloo Yadav, Union Minister Chandradeo Prasad Verma, former chief minister Jagannath Mishra, state Animal Husbandry Minister Bhola Ram Toofani and state Labour and Employment Minister Vidya Sagar Nishad are among the 56 accused named in the fodder chargesheet.

Bihar Governor A R Kidwai is yet to grant permission for the chief minister's prosecution.

The Patna high court, which is monitoring the CBI probe in the fodder scam, said on May 23 that the governor should grant permission for the prosecution before the next hearing slated for June 24.

Tuesday's raids indicate some concrete action against the accused which might even lead to their arrest before the high court hearing on June 24.

UNI