New Delhi/Patna, Dec 8 (PTI) The ED today said it hasattached a three-acre plot worth Rs 45 crore in the Biharcapital in connection with its money laundering probe in theIRCTC hotel allotment scam case involving RJD chief LaluPrasad and his family.
Agency sources said the land is allegedly in the name ofthe family members of Lalu Prasad and a mall was supposed tobe constructed here.
The estimated market value of the plot is Rs 45 crore,they said.
The property has been provisionally attached under thePrevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The central probe had last week questioned Lalu Prasad'swife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi in this casein Patna.
It has earlier questioned Rabri Devi's son TejashwiYadav, the former deputy chief minister of Bihar, twice inthis case.
In July, the agency registered a case against LaluPrasad, his family members and others under the provisions ofthe Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Just before this, the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) registered a criminal first information report andconducted multiple searches on the properties of Lalu Prasadand others.
The CBI FIR alleged that Lalu Prasad, during his tenureas the railway minister in UPA-I, handed over the maintenanceof two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation hotelsto a company in 2004 after receiving a bribe in the form of aprime land in Patna through a 'benami' company owned by SarlaGupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union minister.
The ED registered the criminal case against his familymembers and others under the PMLA, based on this CBI FIR.
The CBI has already recorded the statements of Tejashwiand Lalu Prasad in this case.
The ED is investigating the alleged "proceeds of crime"generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies,according to the officials.
Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, VinayKochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketingcompany, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTCmanaging director P K Goel.
The CBI FIR was registered on July 5 in connection withfavours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding acontract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri andreceiving premium land as "quid pro quo".PTI NESDV.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.