Lalu, family cry conspiracy post fodder scam sentence

Hours after former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad was sentenced to 3.5 years of jail in a fodder scam case, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and his family cried foul while terming the decision a 'conspiracy.'

Taking to Twitter, Lalu said he would prefer to die for social justice rather than practising the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) simple rule - "Follow us or We will Fix you".

Lalu's son and RJD leader Tej Pratap said the former would get bail soon, adding the 'feudal power' could not break them.

"We are confident that he [Lalu Yadav] will get bail. We have full faith in the judiciary. We are not going to get terrified and will fight strongly against this," he told the media.

Lalu's younger son Tejashwi said they would move the High Court against it.

"We have full faith in the judiciary. I hope Lalu ji will be with us soon. This will not affect our party. Lalu ji is considered as a mass leader and all the people are with us. The Centre has misused the central agency. This is a conspiracy to break the RJD, but we will give a fitting reply to this at the right time. It is a challenging time for us, but we will fight back," he told the reporters.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, earlier in the day, sentenced Lalu Prasad to 3.5 years of jail in a fodder scam case.

He has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

Lalu has been sentenced in the case relating to embezzling of more than Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994.

The Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh pronounced the quantum of sentence via video conferencing.

The court also said if he fails to furnish the fine, his jail term would extend by six months.

On December 3, the court had convicted Lalu and 14 others in the case, acquitting seven, including former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.