Evidence of Rs 600 crore payoffs found after Lalu kin searches, claims ED | India News

NEW DELHI: A day after searches were conducted at 24 locations in Delhi-NCR, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi on premises linked to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son, Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, and his daughters in connection with the land-for-railway job probe, the Enforcement Directorate claimed on Saturday it has seized documents revealing “proceeds of crime” worth Rs 600 crore.
The documents pertain to the ownership of immovable properties worth Rs 350 crore and transactions worth Rs 250 crore created through various benamidaars, according to the agency.
The searches were conducted in a money laundering probe in the case, which dates back to Lalu’s tenure as minister for railways under the UPA government and involves alleged extortion of land from people who were, in exchange, given Group D jobs in various zones of railways. “It has been revealed during the investigation that in many railway zones, more than 50% of the recruited candidates were from the constituencies of Lalu Prasad’s family,” said ED.

The land allegedly taken as bribes from “poor parents” was subsequently sold at huge premiums, with the money earned going primarily into the accounts of Tejashwi, the agency claims.

The properties which are being examined by the ED include a four-storey bungalow, D-1088 in New Delhi’s New Friends Colony. Worth approximately Rs 150 crore, it was shown to have been acquired for a measly Rs 4 lakh. The ED has alleged that the property is registered in the name of AB Exports Pvt Ltd, a company owned and controlled by Tejashwi. “During the searches, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property,” ED said. Going by ED’s claims, Tejashwi emerges as the principal beneficiary of the “land-for-job scam”.

“The investigation conducted so far has revealed that several pieces of land at prominent locations in Patna and other areas were illegally acquired by the family of the then rail mantri, Lalu Prasad Yadav, in lieu of jobs provided in railways. The current market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore,” the ED stated in a press note. The agency also said it has identified several benamidaars, shell entities and beneficial owners for these lands.
“It is suspected that a huge amount of cash/proceeds of crime has been infused in purchasing this property and a few Mumbai-based entities dealing in the gems and jewellery sector were used to channel ill-gotten proceeds of crime in this regard,” the ED further said.

“Investigation has found that four parcels of lands acquired by the family of Lalu Yadav for just Rs 7.5 lakh from poor Group D applicants were sold to Syed Abu Dojana, ex-RJD MLA, by Rabri Devi with huge gains at Rs 3.5 crore in a collusive deal,” the ED said, and added that a major portion of the amount thus received was transferred to the account of Tejashwi.
The agency said it recovered unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, $1,900 in foreign currency, 540gm gold bullion and more than 1.5kg gold jewellery (worth Rs 1.25 crore), various property documents, sale deeds in the names of family members (of Lalu Yadav).