Former Bihar Road Construction department minister and RJD leader Mohammad Ilyas Hussain was convicted in the 28-year-old bitumen scam by a special CBI court and sentenced to five years in jail and fined Rs 20 lakh here on Saturday.
The case relates to the embezzlement of bitumen worth Rs 1.57 crore between 1994 and 1996, in which seven accused including Hussain were found guilty.
The other convicts include his personal secretary Shahabuddin Beg, P&T director Kedar Paswan, deputy director Mujtaba Ahmed, executive engineer Ramanand Ram, section officer Shobha Sinha and transporter supplier Dudheshwar Nath Singh.
CBI special court Judge Anil Kumar Mishra sentenced all the convicts to five years imprisonment and fine. Notably, a fine of Rs 60 lakh has been imposed on the supplier Dudheshwar Nath Singh, while a fine of Rs 20 lakh each has been imposed on the other six convicts. In case of non-payment of the fine, an additional jail term has been provided.
The case pertains to the time when tar was to be supplied from Haldia Oil Refinery for the construction of roads in Chatra, but the minister and engineers together caused a loss of Rs 1.57 crore to the Government by illegally selling 3,266 metric tonnes of tar. Earlier, in September 2018, Ilyas Hussain was sentenced to four years in prison in another case of tar scam, resulting in the termination of his assembly membership.
Ex-Bihar Minister, 6 others sentenced to 5-Yr-RI in bitumen scam
Sunday, 30 March 2025 | PNS
| Ranchi
Ex-Bihar Minister, 6 others sentenced to 5-Yr-RI in bitumen scam
Sunday, 30 March 2025 | PNS | Ranchi
