NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Friday conducted pan-India raids and searches on at least 24 locations associated with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav for suspected money laundering in the wake of the land for Job scam for the period when he was the railway minister.
The searches were conducted at the premises associated with Lalu's kin and associates across various locations including Delhi-NCR, Patna, Ranchi and Mumbai.
The ED's raids come close on the heels of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioning Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi and his daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti in connection with the corruption charges related to the alleged scam.
The ED's action is a follow-up on the CBI's investigation, which is now probing the acquisition of assets by the Yadav family in the wake of the proceeds generated by corrupt practices in wake of the scam. The CBI has already filed a chargesheet in the matter in 2022 October and further investigations are underway.
According to sources in ED the agency raided 24 locations based in Bihar, Delhi NCR, UP, Jharkhand and Haryana associated with Lalu Yadav, his relatives and close associates for possessing assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
While searches on his family members included the premises of Bihar deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav whose property in Delhi-NCR was raided. Other names that figured on the list were Ragini Yadav, Hema Yadav, and Chanda Yadav – the three daughters of Lalu.
The premises of Syed Abu Dojana, the former RJD MLA of RJD and close associate of Lalu was raided by the ED team who searched his office and residence in the Phulwarisharif area adjoining the Patna Airport. He is facing investigations under the disproportionate assets (DA) charges.
Dojana was elected as RJD MLA from Sursand in Sitamarhi district in the past. He also owns a real estate company Meridian Construction Private Ltd which was constructing a big mall in Danapur, a town adjacent to Patna. As per allegations, the mall, the construction of which has been stalled by a court on a plea filed by ED, actually belongs to Lalu’s family with Dojana being the front.
Earlier in October last year, CBI had filed a chargesheet against Lalu Prasad, the former railway minister, his wife Rabri Devi and 14 others in connection with an alleged land-for-jobs scam during his tenure in the Railways.
Lalu’s daughter Misa and a former general manager of the Railways were also named as accused in the charge sheet filed before a special CBI court recently. The preliminary enquiry into the matter was registered and initiated by the CBI on September 23, 2021, in connection to the alleged land-for-jobs scam in the Railways which was converted into an FIR on May 18, 2022.
According to the agency, Individuals were allegedly appointed as substitutes in group D positions within three days of applying in "undue haste" by Railway officials and were later regularised when the "individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land."
The transfers were made through deeds in the name of Rabri Devi and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, it was alleged. The CBI had alleged that land measuring about 1.05 lakh square feet in Patna was acquired by Prasad's family members by making payments to the sellers in cash.
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