NEW DELHI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Lalu Prasad Yadav, a veteran Indian politician was Monday convicted by a local court in the fourth fodder scam case, officials said.

The case relates to fraudulent withdrawal of over 460,935 U.S. dollars from a government treasury in India's eastern state of Bihar between December 1995 and January 1996.

"A special court in Ranchi today convicted Lalu Prasad Yadav and 18 others in the fourth fodder scam case," a court official said. "Another former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra was, however, acquitted along with 11 others."

Yadav was the former chief minister of India's eastern state of Bihar and has also served as minister of Indian railways.

Earlier, Yadav was convicted in three other fodder scam cases.

In the first case he was given a five-year jail term, three-and-a-half years in the second case, and another five-year imprisonment in the third case.

The fodder scam involves the embezzlement of government funds in Bihar meant for cattle fodder. The scam surfaced in the 1990s when Yadav was chief minister of undivided Bihar. Later on Bihar was divided and Jharkhand state was carved out of it.

Yadav is one of the India's most colourful politicians known for his quirky style. He is currently in jail undergoing imprisonment.

Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal party is a major opposition party in Bihar.