The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday performed raids in a number of cities, together with at the premises of the daughters of former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav and a number of other RJD leaders in reference to a money-laundering probe into the ‘land for jobs’ rip-off case.
Officials mentioned the case pertains to employment allegedly being given in the Indian Railways. This is in return for land gifted or bought at low-cost charges to the Yadav household and their associates.
On March 6, Lalu Yadav’s spouse Rabri Devi was questioned at her residence in Patna adopted by Lalu Prasad’s questioning in Delhi the next day at his daughter Misa Bharti’s residence.
Although a cost sheet has been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case, the string of latest questionings has been in reference to newly obtained leads and data acquired by the CBI in the case.
CBI sources recommend they acquired extra info on the modus operandi of the rip-off in the course of the course of the investigation.
Officials are verifying complaints that Lalu Yadav had acquired extra property than the company was conscious of in the alleged rip-off. He was the Railway Minister between 2004 and 2009 in the course of the UPA regime.
Allegations Against Yadav & Co
ED performed raids in 24 areas together with Patna, Mumbai, Delhi, NCR and Ranchi.
In Patna, the ED group started its search operation at the residence of a former RJD MLA from Sitamarhi – a really shut affiliate of Lalu Yadav.
ED performed raids on SP Verma street in Patna, the place his firm Meridian Construction Pvt Ltd is situated. The group had reportedly reached the workplace that was situated on the third ground of the constructing. However, they needed to wait exterior it for over 5 hours as a result of the workplace was locked.
The group might enter the premises solely after Syed Abu Dojana’s brother – one other builder – introduced the keys to the workplace and gave them to ED officers.
Syed Abu Dojana who’s now a RJD chief has been below the radar of central businesses for some time.
In 2022, CBI had performed searches at the residences and places of work of RJD leaders Dojana and Subhas Yadav in the ‘land for jobs’ rip-off.
Last yr raids had been additionally carried out by the CBI at the premises of MLC Sunil Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Asfaq Karim, Rajya Sabha MP Fayyaz Ahmed, ex-MLC Subodh Rai and former MLA Abu Dojana in Patna, Madhubani and Katihar in reference to the ‘land for jobs’ rip-off.
Back in 2018, the IT group had raided the residence and places of work of builder-turned-politician, Dojana who is taken into account near Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav and his household.
Dojana’s firm was engaged in the development of the mall, mentioned to be one of many largest in Bihar. The building was nevertheless halted by ED in 2018.
The ED motion got here after the CBI had registered a case alleging quid professional quo in awarding contracts for the operation and upkeep of two IRCTC accommodations in Ranchi and Puri in lieu of sale of the land in Patna to Lalu Yadav’s affiliate Prem Chand Gupta’s firm in February 2005 at a throwaway value.
Political War of Words
RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP and Chief Spokesperson Manoj Jha in an announcement mentioned, “the pain of leaving power in 2022 is not going away. That’s the reason even the trees and plants in Lalu ji’s courtyard will also be searched, they will also be investigated.”
Without naming anybody, the RJD MP pointed at the BJP and mentioned, “you have tarnished the character of these institutions so much that you will also come under its influence when you will not be at the centre.”
BJP Rajya Sabha MP and Former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi mentioned that Lalu Yadav was born to a poor household and have become the most important landlord merely by getting land for gifting away jobs. He has alleged that Lalu Yadav has over 1 lakh sq. ft of invaluable land in Patna alone.
Sushil Modi additionally claimed that Tejashwi Yadav ought to clarify how he turned the proprietor of a four-storey home price billions in New Delhi’s New Friends Colony.
He alleged, “Tejashwi Yadav did not even get a decent education. He failed in cricket, but owned 52 properties at the age of just 29. All this without doing any business. Should this not be checked?”
Sushil Modi additional alleged that the quid professional quo was additionally utilized by Lalu Yadav in allotting key posts to MLAs, MPs, Ministers and even MLCs. “Lalu Prasad received valuable land and kept them in the name of his family members, trapping the whole family. No one else has trapped them. Former MLA Abu Dojana is the same person who was building Tejashwi Yadav’s Rs 750 crore mall in Patna.”
Congress has alleged that the raids had been only a type of harassment. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge in a tweet condemned the raids.
पिछले 14 घंटे से मोदी जी ने बिहार के उपमुख्यमंत्री @yadavtejashwi के घर पर ED बैठा रखी है।उनकी गर्भवती पत्नी और बहनें को सताया जा रहा है। @laluprasadrjd जी बुजुर्ग हैं, बीमार हैं, तब भी मोदी सरकार ने उनके प्रति मानवता नहीं दिखाई।
अब पानी सिर के ऊपर से चला गया है।
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 10, 2023
What is the ‘Land for Jobs’ Scam?
The alleged rip-off dates again to the interval when Lalu Yadav served as Union Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009. During this time, the ‘land for jobs’ rip-off was alleged to have taken place.
The RJD patriarch, his spouse Rabri, and his daughters Misa and Hema Yadav had been allegedly given plots of land as bribes by people employed by the Railways in 2008-2009. In addition to that, the CBI claims that 12 people got jobs in the railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur.
Lalu Prasad Yadav is accused of benefiting from his place as railways minister by transferring properties into the names of his relations in alternate for the appointment of replacements to Group “D” posts in various railway zones, according to the CBI.
The CBI in its FIR also claimed that in place thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members sold and gifted their land located in Patna in favour of the family members of Lalu Prasad and a private corporation owned by family members.
“Substitutes in grade D of railways were recruited who joined the service much later after their appointment. These substitutes were later regularised after they submitted fake documents during the recruitment process which were wrongly verified,” the FIR learn.
According to the CBI, no advertisement or any public notice was issued for such appointments and these people were appointed as “substitutes” in different zonal railways at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.
According to CBI investigations, Lalu’s family purchased more than a lakh square feet of land in this manner for merely Rs 26 lakh. This is despite the fact that the land’s actual value is estimated to be more than Rs 4.39 crore.
“About 1,05,292 sq feet of land/immovable properties in Patna were acquired by the family members of the said minister through five sale deeds and two gift deeds, showing the payment made to seller in cash in most of the land transfers,” a CBI official earlier told News18.
In “due haste,” railway officers allegedly substituted the candidates for group D positions inside three days of their functions, they usually had been later regularized “in place thereof of the people themselves or their relations who donated their land,” according to the agency.
‘Land for Job’ Scam: A brief Timeline
- September 2021: CBI initiated a preliminary investigation into the ‘land for jobs’ scam.
- July 2022 – Close aide and then OSD of railways, Bhola Yadav Arrested by CBI
- August 2022 – Raids at RJD MLC Sunil Singh, MLC Subodh Roy, RJD’s Rajya Sabha MPs Ashfaq Karim and Fayaz Ahmed’s home in Madhubani.
- October 2022 – The CBI submitted a charge sheet against Lalu Yadav, Rabri and 14 others under the charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the prevention of corruption act.
- January 2023 – CBI got sanction to prosecute Lalu Yadav in the ‘land for jobs’ scam case
- February 2023 – Rouse Avenue Court summons Lalu Yadav, Rabri, Misa Bharti and 13 others to appear before the court on March 1
- March 6, 2023 – CBI questions Rabri Devi at her residence in Patna
- March 7, 2023 – CBI questioned Lalu Yadav in Delh
- March 10, 2023 – Raids by ED at 24 locations in Patna, Ranchi, Mumbai, Delhi and NCR
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