Ranchi, Jan 31 (IANS) Sixty-four people were Tuesday jailed for two to five years by a special CBI court here in a multi-million rupee fodder scam case.

The 64 people, including 23 officials of the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD), were accused of fraudulently withdrawing Rs.12.22 crore from Ranchi’s Dornada, an official said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court of N.N. Singh also slapped fines of Rs.300,000 to Rs.10 lakh.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against the accused in 2000. Charges were framed in 2004.

The fodder scam surfaced in late 1990s in Bihar, where officials and politicians were accused of illegally withdrawing crores of rupees of public money in the guise of purchasing fodder.

A total of 61 cases were filed in the scam and 53 were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out from Bihar in 2000.

With Tuesday’s verdict, different CBI courts in Ranchi have passed judgments in 40 cases.

Two former Bihar chief ministers, Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, are accused in five cases. Their trial is on in different CBI courts.