In a rare conviction involving a large number of people, on Wednesday, 50 of the accused in the fodder scam case were found guilty and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment by a designated CBI court.

The judgement was pronounced for fraudulently withdrawing Rs 16,33 from the Chaibasa Treasury on the basis of fake bills raised for purported supply of different items to the Animal Husbandary department of Bihar.

For the first time, Mohammed Sayeed, the major supplier and accused in the other 23 fodder cases, in which he allegedly received nearly Rs 95.73 crore, was also convicted. He was, however, not present in the court when the judgement was pronounced.

Terming it a 'unique' conviction of a large number of people, a CBI spokesman said while seven people, including the then district animal husbandary chief G S Prasad, were sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, the others were given jail terms ranging from one to six years.

The case was registered by CBI on March 27, 1996 and after investigations, a chargesheet was filed against 22 people on June 28, 1998. Later, an additional chargesheet was filed against 33 more people. Of the total of 55 people accused in the case, 50 were convicted, two died during the course of trial, two turned approvers and one is still absconding.