CBI Arrests Satyendra Kumar in Fodder Scam After 25 Years on the Run

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Satyendra Kumar, an accused in the Bihar fodder scam who had been absconding for more than 25 years, after tracing his movements from Nepal to India. Kumar was apprehended at Lucknow railway station while travelling by train from Guna in Madhya Pradesh to Lucknow, marking a significant development in a long-pending case linked to one of India's most notorious corruption scandals.

According to the CBI, Kumar was arrested around midnight on October 22, 2026, following specific intelligence inputs. The agency had filed a chargesheet against him in 2001. After he failed to appear for trial, he was declared a proclaimed offender, and a permanent arrest warrant was issued. Investigators tracked him through physical surveillance, technical monitoring and human intelligence before learning that he had returned to India. He was being taken to Ranchi, Jharkhand, on transit remand for production before the competent court.

While the CBI's public statement did not detail Kumar's precise role, media reports alleged that he was linked to pharmaceutical supplies worth more than ₹10 crore to Bihar's Animal Husbandry Department. According to these reports, Kumar and his associate, Dinesh Rai, established a pharmaceutical business after studying pharmacy at BIT Mesra in Ranchi. The firm allegedly recorded medicine supplies that investigators suspected were fraudulent. Kumar reportedly operated a pharmaceutical business in Nepal while absconding. These allegations remain subject to judicial determination.

The fodder scam, commonly known as Chara Ghotala, involved alleged fraudulent withdrawals of approximately ₹950 crore from government treasuries in undivided Bihar. The scandal comprised 55 cases involving suspected fake bills, inflated invoices and irregular payments for cattle fodder, medicines, veterinary equipment and other supplies.

The irregularities came to wider attention after audit findings highlighted excessive expenditure. In January 1996, Amit Khare, then deputy commissioner of West Singhbhum, detected suspicious withdrawals linked to the Chaibasa treasury. The Patna High Court ordered a CBI investigation in March 1996, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court.

Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav resigned in July 1997 amid the scandal and was subsequently convicted in five fodder scam cases involving the Chaibasa, Deoghar, Dumka and Doranda treasuries. Former chief minister Jagannath Mishra was convicted in one case and acquitted in others. Other convicted figures included former MP Jagdish Sharma and former legislator Dhruv Bhagat.

Rabri Devi, named in a separate disproportionate-assets case, was acquitted alongside Yadav in 2006. The wider investigation exposed serious weaknesses in procurement checks, treasury controls and administrative oversight.

Kumar's arrest does not establish his guilt or resolve the wider scandal. His pending case will proceed through the courts, where the evidence and allegations must be examined. The development nevertheless highlights the CBI's continuing efforts to pursue accused individuals decades after the alleged diversion of public funds.