Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, son of former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday for questioning in connection with a money laundering case related to the land-for-jobs scam case. He arrived at the federal agency's office in central Delhi in a carcade at 10:45 AM.
According to sources, the ED booked a separate case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) criminal sections based on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and recorded Yadav's statement on Tuesday. The CBI questioned him in this case last month.
Yadav's sister MP Misa Bharti was also questioned by the ED on March 25 in this case, the same day he had deposed before the CBI. The CBI had also questioned Lalu Prasad and his wife, former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, while the ED carried out raids against the RJD chief's family.
The ED, after the searches, reported that it had seized unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore and detected proceeds of crime worth Rs 600 crore. It said the investigation was ongoing to uncover more investments made on behalf of Prasad's family and their associates in various sectors, including real estate, in various places.
The alleged scam dates back to the period when Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA-1 government at the Centre. The ED alleged that a property located at D-1088, New Friends Colony in south Delhi, is an independent four-storeyed bungalow registered in the name of A B Exports Private Limited, which is a beneficiary firm in this case.
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The ED claimed that this company is owned and controlled by Tejashwi Yadav and his family, and this house was shown to have been acquired for a mere Rs 4 lakh, while its current market value is approximately Rs 150 crore.
"The property has been though, on paper, declared as an office of A B Exports Private Limited and AK Infosystems Pvt ltd, it is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav," the ED said. "During the searches, Tejaswi Prasad Yadav was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property."
It is alleged that during the period 2004-09, various people were appointed to Group D positions in various zones of the Indian Railways, and in return, the people concerned transferred their land to the family members of Prasad, the then railway minister, and A K Infosystems Pvt Ltd.
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The CBI alleged that no advertisement or public notice was issued for the appointment but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hazipur.
As a quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to the family members of Prasad at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates.
Tejashwi Yadav had denied the allegations, stating after his parents were questioned by the CBI that the then railway minister Prasad had "no powers" to give employment in exchange for favours.
With agency inputs.
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