Laloo Accuses Biswas Of Bias In Fodder Scam Probe

Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav yesterday charged Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) joint director (east) U N Biswas with harbouring political ambitions and said that the agency would not make a fair investigation into the fodder scam under his leadership.

Yadav made this statement before leaving for Delhi to attend yesterdays Janata Dal Political Affairs Committee meeting.

He said that Biswas was party to a political conspiracy hatched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to unseat him.

To authenticate his charges, Yadav pointed out leader of the opposition and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modis statement in the assembly that the Chief Minister would be chargesheeted latest by January 15 and said that Biswas also repeated the same to the media.

Accusing Biswas of violating code of conduct and bypassing hierarchy, the Chief Minister said that the Central Bureau of Investigation official revealed his prejudice by divulging to the press his intention to chargesheet me a day after my interrogation.

Yadav said that the political battle begins now and stressed that Biswas had violated the secrecy of the probe. He said that the Central Bureau of Investigation joint director should have sent his finding to the high court bench monitoring the case.

According to Yadav, Biswas had only one year left to retire and that is why he had struck a deal with the BJP to nurture his political ambition. Emphasising that he would continue his battle in the law court and the peoples court, Yadav denied that he had held the entire state bureaucracy responsible for the scam. According to him, Biswas had tried to divide the officials of the state.

When contacted on phone at Calcutta, Biswas said, I am not perturbed by the comments made by the Chief Minister against me. I know it that vilification campaign against me was launched earlier and it would continue.

He claimed that the CBI joint director, according to the manual, was entitled to hold a press conference and brief the media.

He clarified that he had not called any formal press conference on January 7. In fact, journalist came to me to inquire about the progress of the investigation and I did not divulge anything objectionable, he said.