The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided 24 locations in the National Capital Region (NCR), Patna, Ranchi and Mumbai, including Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav’s residence in Delhi, in connection with the money laundering probe in the alleged ‘country for work”.
People familiar with the development said, “The raids are being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to gather evidence.
Earlier this week, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi in Patna on Tuesday in Delhi in connection with the case.
Questioned by his parents, Tejashwi said on Monday that the CBI action was the result of his family’s relentless opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “It is an open secret that investigative agencies are acting against political opponents of the BJP and helping those who agree to join the party,” the RJD leader told reporters on the sidelines of a rally in Bihar on Monday.
In September 2021, the CBI opened a preliminary investigation (PE) – a precursor to the FIR – in the matter over allegations that various persons were appointed as alternates to Group D posts in various zones of the Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009 without following instructions. , by the exchange of land by unknown government officials.
Group D refers to basic railway jobs with the lowest pay. The work includes maintenance of tracks, railway wagons, departments, warehouses among others and will depend on the position you get.
The CBI registered an FIR in the matter on May 18 last year, naming Yadav, Rabri Devi and their two daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav besides unidentified government officials.
It also raided 16 places, including the residences of Lalu and Misa at the time. It is alleged that during Prasad’s tenure as Railway Minister from 2004-09, 12 irregular appointments of candidates were made on the Central Railways in violation of Indian Railways recruitment norms and procedures. No advertisement or public order was issued for the appointment but some residents of Patna were appointed as alternates in various zonal railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.
In return, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to Prasad family members at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates.
In all, Lalu Yadav and his family members acquired a plot measuring 1,05,292 square feet located in Patna through seven deeds (five sale and two gift deeds) at lump sum prices from 12 private individuals who got Group D jobs in six different zones of the Railway .
The Yadavs allegedly paid amounts ranging from ₹ 3 crore to ₹ 13 crore for the seven plots they received as bribes. However, the current value of this entire land is around ₹ 4.39 crore, according to the CBI.
The agency had already filed a charge sheet against 16 persons including Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi and Misa Bharti in October 2022. A Delhi court has summoned them on March 15. Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have also come out in support of Lalu Yadav and family.
“Today Rabri Devi ji is being molested. Lalu Prasad ji and his family have been persecuted for years for not bowing down,” Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted on Monday. AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said earlier this week that “targeting and harassing opposition leaders is wrong”. On February 26, the CBI arrested his deputy and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as part of the consumer policy probe.
Written by: Vaishali Verma
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