Fodder scam: Yogi Adityanath orders probe into reports of CBI judge getting calls seeking favours for Lalu Prasad

Lucknow: Taking note of news reports, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday ordered a probe into allegations of government officials calling up a CBI special judge to seek favours for fodder scam convict and RJD chief Lalu Prasad. On the basis of media reports about lobbying in favour of the fodder scam convict, orders have been issued to the commissioner Jhansi division to carry out a probe and submit a report at the earliest, a tweet issued in Hindi on the official handle of the CM Office. [caption id=“attachment_4224195” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Lalu Prasad Yadav. PTI[/caption] Reports in a section of the media have alleged that district magistrate (DM) Mannan Akhtar and sub-divisional magistrate Bhairpal Singh of Jalaun had called up CBI Special Judge Shivpal Singh to seek favours for the RJD chief in the fodder scam case. During the proceedings of the case in Ranchi on 4 January, the CBI judge had also stated “Laluji, we are getting a lot of references and calls for you” without naming the people who had called him up. Prasad was later awarded a sentence of three-and-a-half years in jail and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. However, DM Akhtar refuting the allegations, said, “I never spoke to CBI Special Judge Shivpal Singh over phone. I have been here (Jalaun) just for four months and he had come to meet us in November in connection with his land dispute in the district. Nothing else was discussed.” “How can someone level such serious allegations without any evidence? I belong to Assam and am working in Uttar Pradesh. I have no connection of any kind with Laluji,” he said. A 2011-batch IAS officer, Akhtar became Jalaun DM in September last year.