Ranchi, Jan 16 (IANS): A special CBI court Monday convicted 61 people in a Rs.14 crore fodder scam case.

The CBI court pronounced judgment in a case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.14.52 crore from the government treasury. There were total 73 accused in the case, of whom nine died during trial and three turned CBI approvers.

The CBI court awarded one to three years imprisonment to 20 convicted people and slapped fines on them ranging from Rs.30,000 to Rs.3 lakh. The quantum of sentence against the remaining accused will be pronounced Wednesday.

The multi-million Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) scam surfaced in late 1990s. There were total 61 cases filed in the scam and 52 were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out from Bihar in 2000. The CBI courts have passed judgment in 33 cases.

Two former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra are accused in five cases. The trial of both is going on in different CBI courts.