The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Satyendra Kumar, a proclaimed offender in the Bihar fodder scam cases, at Lucknow railway station after a search lasting more than 25 years. According to the agency, he was taken into custody around midnight on October 22 while travelling by train from Guna in Madhya Pradesh to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
How the arrest happened
Kumar was named in a CBI charge sheet filed in 2001. He absconded after that and did not appear before the court to face trial, which led to the issuance of a permanent warrant of arrest against him. The agency said it had been trying to locate him for over two decades.
Investigators reportedly used physical surveillance, technical monitoring, and human intelligence to trace Kumar to Nepal, where he is said to have been living under an assumed identity. The CBI said he had recently returned to India. Acting on specific intelligence about his train journey on October 22, a dedicated team was positioned at Lucknow railway station before the train arrived.
Transit remand and next steps
Kumar is being taken to Ranchi in Jharkhand on transit remand for production before the competent court. The case remains under the jurisdiction of the special court in Ranchi.
Background of the fodder scam
The Bihar fodder scam involved large-scale embezzlement of public funds from the Animal Husbandry Department of undivided Bihar during the 1990s. The cases include around 55 instances of fraudulent withdrawals estimated at approximately ₹950 crore between 1992 and 1995. The money was allegedly siphoned off through fake bills for fodder, medicines, and equipment, and the investigation exposed links involving politicians, bureaucrats, suppliers, and middlemen.
Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has been convicted in five related cases. According to reports, Kumar was alleged to be a supplier in the scam, but the CBI has not given further details about his specific role in its official statement.
