India
Cbi: 4,000 ‘sold’ land for jobs during Lalu’s stint as rail minister? CBI set to expand probe ambit | India News
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NEW DELHI: The CBI is set to expand the scope of its investigation into the “land-for-jobs” scam with the investigators coming across what sources called “prima facie evidence” to suggest that around 4,000 people were allegedly given jobs in Indian Railways during RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s tenure as Union railway minister and their land parcels were “bought” in return.
The agency, sources said, has recovered a storage device with a list of 1,500 candidates and mention of the railway zones to which their applications had been forwarded.
The people who “sold” land parcels to Lalu and his family in lieu of jobs belong to just five-six Bihar districts centred around the clan’s interests, officials claimed.
The CBI probe has also revealed that Lalu had allegedly created a special cell called the MR cell at his Patna camp office that was used as a centre for collecting documents and applications from candidates. This cell processed and vetted the applications before forwarding those to railway officials concerned, who were part of the alleged conspiracy. The cell was also responsible for coordinating the engagement of these candidates in various zones of railways.
The investigation has also thrown up evidence of the Lalu clan making profit by later selling off many of the land parcels “bought” from candidates. In one instance, a land parcel bought for a few lakhs was sold in 2017 for several crores to a company, which is owned by former RJD MLA Syed Abu Dujana.
CBI sources also pointed out the peculiar case of a shell firm owned by one Amit Katyal. The firm allegedly bought land parcels worth crores. Later, it was acquired by Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav and wife Rabri Devi in 2014.
Several anomalies were found in the applications of the candidates and the documents they had attached. The applications should have been turned down because of the flaws but they were processed and the applicants found jobs with different zones.
In most cases, candidates joined at later dates, thus defeating the very purpose of their appointments as substitutes to meet exigencies. In some cases, candidates could not clear their medical examination. Subsequently, they were considered and appointed on the posts where the requirement of medical fitness was not the same.
The agency, sources said, has recovered a storage device with a list of 1,500 candidates and mention of the railway zones to which their applications had been forwarded.
The people who “sold” land parcels to Lalu and his family in lieu of jobs belong to just five-six Bihar districts centred around the clan’s interests, officials claimed.
The CBI probe has also revealed that Lalu had allegedly created a special cell called the MR cell at his Patna camp office that was used as a centre for collecting documents and applications from candidates. This cell processed and vetted the applications before forwarding those to railway officials concerned, who were part of the alleged conspiracy. The cell was also responsible for coordinating the engagement of these candidates in various zones of railways.
The investigation has also thrown up evidence of the Lalu clan making profit by later selling off many of the land parcels “bought” from candidates. In one instance, a land parcel bought for a few lakhs was sold in 2017 for several crores to a company, which is owned by former RJD MLA Syed Abu Dujana.
CBI sources also pointed out the peculiar case of a shell firm owned by one Amit Katyal. The firm allegedly bought land parcels worth crores. Later, it was acquired by Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav and wife Rabri Devi in 2014.
Several anomalies were found in the applications of the candidates and the documents they had attached. The applications should have been turned down because of the flaws but they were processed and the applicants found jobs with different zones.
In most cases, candidates joined at later dates, thus defeating the very purpose of their appointments as substitutes to meet exigencies. In some cases, candidates could not clear their medical examination. Subsequently, they were considered and appointed on the posts where the requirement of medical fitness was not the same.
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