NEW DELHI/PATNA: The cases Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is in CBI’s crosshairs again. The investigating agency on Friday carried out raids and searches at 16 premises linked to Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi at Patna and Gopalganj in Bihar and their daughter Misa Bharti in New Delhi in connection with a fresh case registered against them for taking land in lieu of providing jobs.
The Economic Offences wing of the CBI had registered a case against Lalu, his family members and others on May 18 for allegedly taking over 1,05,292 sq ft land in Patna from candidates in return for group D jobs in Railways during 2004-09, when he was Union Railway Minister.
Apart from Lalu and Rabri, two of their daughters, Misa and Hema, have been named as accused in the case, in addition to 12 people who were given jobs in Railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur.
Misa’s farmhouse in Chhatarpur in Delhi was the CBI’s target, apart from her MP’s residence. She is a Rajya Sabha member. The houses of some of the beneficiaries were also searched by the raiding teams in Bihar.
A private company allegedly controlled by Yadav’s family members was also involved in the “transfer of immovable properties” in the name of Rabri Devi and her two daughters.Investigations suggest that by the properties were “acquired” by Yadav’s family members through five sale and two gift deeds “showing payment made to the seller in cash in most of the land transfer”.