Bitumen scam: CBI court convicts former Bihar minister, four others
A CBI court has sentenced five persons, including former Bihar minister Md Illiyas Hussain, to three years of rigorous imprisonment in the bitumen scam.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 32 lakh on all five convicts, including Md Shahabuddin Baig, Ashok Agrawal, Pawan Kumar Agrawal and Vijay Kumar Sinha.
Hussain served as Bihar’s Road Construction Minister in the 1990s. The CBI registered the case in May 1997 following a Patna High Court order. It was initially lodged at the Hazaribagh Sadar police station against Hussain and others.
“It was alleged that the main accused, Hussain, conspired with others to commit the crime,” an official said.
The case pertains to the transportation of bulk bitumen from Haldia to the Road Construction Department (RCD) in Hazaribagh via Barauni. However, investigators found that no such transportation took place.
“The transporter allegedly lifted bitumen from Haldia, sold it in Kolkata’s open market, and falsely claimed transportation charges, despite no actual delivery,” the official added.
The CBI filed a chargesheet in March 2001, revealing that Hussain, in collusion with co-accused, misappropriated bitumen worth Rs 27.6 lakh, meant for road construction in Bihar.
“This resulted in a wrongful loss of Rs 27.6 lakh to the Bihar government and an equivalent wrongful gain to the accused,” the official said. After trial, the court found the accused guilty and sentenced them accordingly.
