Tejashwi’s residence in Delhi among 24 places raided by ED

The action followed the questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi in Patna on Monday, and the former Union minister Lalu in Delhi on Tuesday in relation with the same case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided 24 locations in the National Capital Region (NCR), Bihar, and Jharkhand, including the residence of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s son and Bihar’s deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, in connection with its money laundering probe in an alleged land-for-jobs scam going back to when Lalu was the Union railways minister from 2004-2009.

Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav (HT)

The action followed the questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi in Patna on Monday, and the former Union minister Lalu in Delhi on Tuesday in relation with the same case.

Raids were carried out on Friday at the homes of three of Lalu’s daughters, Ragini, Chanda and Hema Yadav, and former RJD MLA Abu Dojana, who is considered close to Lalu. The central agency also searched the residence of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Jitendra Yadav in Ghaziabad. Jitendra Yadav is married to Ragini.

During the raids, ED recovered ₹70 lakh cash, 1.5kg gold jewellery, 540 grams gold bullion and foreign currency including 900 US dollars from the premises of Lalu Prasad’s daughters and son Tejashwi, officials said.

People familiar with the ED probe also said Tejashwi’s residence in Delhi’s New Friends Colony area, which was raided on Friday, is registered in the name of AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd, an accused company in the case. One of the land transfers by bribe givers who got jobs in railways was done to AK Infosystems, according to the allegations.

“This means Tejashwi or Lalu Prasad’s family is using a residence registered in the name of accused company,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.

ED probe has revealed that four land parcels were sold to Meridian Construction, owned by former MLA Dojana, said this officer.

People familiar with the development in ED said, raids were conducted under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to “gather evidence”, declining to offer more details.

When asked about his parents’ questioning, Tejashwi said earlier this week that the CBI action was a result of his family’s relentless opposition to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre. “It is an open secret that probe agencies are acting against political opponents of the BJP and helping those who agree to align with that party,” the RJD leader had told reporters outside the Bihar assembly.

Reacting to the ED raids on Friday, RJD leader Manoj Jha alleged that CBI and ED were following “someone else’s script” in conducting searches against opposition leaders, and asserted the ED raids against his party leaders were a reaction to the change in government in Bihar in August last year.

“The image of agencies like CBI and ED has been tarnished. It is not their raid. They are going for raids with someone else’s script. They conducted searches at the residence of Lalu ji’s daughters, our deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav. What did they find? A case which had been shut has been reopened. This is a reaction to what happened in August 2022,” Jha said.

In August 2022, chief minister Nitish Kumar broke off ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in Bihar with RJD.

Meanwhile, RJD MLA Dojana said he was being politically targeted because he had refused to join the BJP. “This is an attempt to frighten the Opposition,” he said.

ED officials said their money laundering probe in land-for-jobs scam is based on a CBI first information report (FIR) and charge sheet. The FIR, registered on May 18, alleged that during Prasad’s tenure as railways minister from 2004-2009, 12 irregular candidate appointments were made in the central railways in the Group D posts, violating the norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment.

According to the central agencies, Lalu Prasad and his family members acquired 105,292 square feet of land situated in Patna through seven deeds (five sale deeds and two gift deeds) at throwaway prices from these 12 people, who got Group D jobs in six different zones of the Railways in return.

Group D refers to basic railway jobs with the lowest pay. The work involves maintenance of tracks, railway coaches, departments, stores, among others and will depend on the post you get.

The agency has already filed a charge sheet in October 2022 against 16 people, including Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and Misa Bharti. A Delhi court has summoned them on March 15.

RJD leader Shakti Yadav said that the raids were a tool in the hands of the government to subjugate the Opposition, but it won’t work.

“Raids everywhere means the BJP is getting increasingly desperate ahead of the big fight before 2024, in which they are already seeing the writing on the wall. They are using all the investigating agencies for political purposes. If they have to fight, they should not play hide and seek with the help of investigating agencies. They will not go after Adani or those caught with money in Karnataka, as they are all associated with the BJP. This is the lowest politics can reach,” he added.

Retorting back, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said: “Everyone knows that Lalan Singh and Shivanand Tiwari who are the key whistle-blowers in the case were patronised by Nitish Kumar. The opposition parties are unnecessarily playing victim card. If anybody has anything against the case as well as the ED or CBI, they should submit an affidavit with documentary evidence to the concerned court. Unnecessary giving a political angle to this case of corruption will not serve their purpose.”

The RJD chief is also an accused in the multi-crore fodder scam and had to serve jail sentence after being convicted. That case pertains to illegal withdrawals worth ₹950 crore from government treasuries for fictitious expenditure on fodder and other requirements for cattle during Lalu’s term as Bihar chief minister.