ED Detects ‘Proceeds of Crime’ Worth Rs 600 Cr After Raids on Lalu’s Family, RJD Cries Foul

The Rashtriya Janata Dal has cried foul over raids by the Enforcement Directorate on party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family at 24 different locations across the country on Friday. The central agency found Rs 1 crore “unaccounted for cash” and detected “proceeds of crime” worth Rs 600 crore in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged railway land for jobs scam. Now, the party is using the raids to play the sympathy card even as Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav skipped a summons scheduled on Saturday, citing poor health condition of pregnant wife Rajshri. He had also failed to appear before the CBI on March 4.

According to RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav, Rajshri has a critical pregnancy issue as her blood pressure shot up during the ED raid at their house in New Friends Colony, where she and Tejashwi are residing at present. She is reportedly hospitalised and Tejashwi is attending to her.

Political blame game

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, while interacting with reporters, said, “This happened in 2017 too. Back then, we (JDU and RJD) went our separate ways… five years went by and, when we came together, raids happened again,” he said after the CBI called in Tejashwi for questioning.

The RJD also got support by JD(U) national president Lalan Singh, who alleged that pregnant women and children were being harassed. “The CBI could not gather evidence after investigating twice… but after August 9, 2022 (when the JDU dropped the BJP and went back to the RJD), suddenly they started getting evidence from some divine power…” he said.

Lalu Prasad tweeted, “My ideological fight against Sangh and BJP has been and will continue. I have never bowed before them and no one from my family and party will bow down before your politics.”

The BJP has claimed that central agencies are doing their job and the law is taking its own course. Party spokesperson Guruprakash said, “You reap what you sow and this is exactly what’s happening.”

“There is no vendetta politics. Lalu Yadav was punished by court when he was in coalition with UPA-1. Narendra Modi has freed those parrots from the cage. Will investigating agencies stop investigating if there is a pregnant woman at home? Moreover, the ED did not question Tejashwi’s wife. The RJD is just playing the sympathy card and it’s not the first time they are doing so,” Rajya Sabha MP from BJP Sushil Modi told CNN-News18.

The ED had launched raids on Friday at multiple locations linked to Lalu Prasad’s family members, including that of Tejashwi’s in Delhi. “Searches resulted in recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, foreign currency including $1,900, 540 gm gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery (worth Rs 1.25 crore approximately), several other incriminating documents including various property documents, sale deeds etc held in the names of family members and benamidars indicating illegal accretion of huge land bank and electronic devices. Searches resulted in detection of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 600 crore approximately at this point of time, which is in the form of immovable properties of Rs 350 crore and transactions of Rs 250 crore routed through various benamidars,” the ED said.

The ED said the PMLA 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. In this regard, several benamidars, shell entities and beneficial owners for these lands have been identified,” it said.

A timeline

March 11, 2023: Tejashwi Yadav skips CBI summons citing his wife’s poor health condition

March 10, 2023: ED raid at 24 locations in Patna, Ranchi, Mumbai, Delhi NCR in money laundering and other investigations related to proceeds of crimes

March 7, 2023: The CBI questioned Lalu Prasad Yadav for nearly five hours at the Delhi home of his daughter, MP Misa Bharti

March 6, 2023: CBI questions Rabri Devi at her residence in Patna

February 2023: Rouse Avenue Court summons Lalu, Rabri, Misa Bharti and 13 others to appear before the court on March 15

January 2023: CBI sanctioned to prosecute Lalu Prasad Yadav in land for job scam case

October 2022: The CBI submitted a chargesheet

August 2022: Raids at the homes of RJD MLC Sunil Singh, MLC Subodh Roy, RJD’s Rajya Sabha MPs Ashfaq Karim and Fayaz Ahmed

July 2022: Close aide and then OSD railways, Bhola Yadav arrested by CBI

September 2021: CBI initiated a preliminary investigation into the railway’s land-for-jobs fraud

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