Tejashwi joins ED probe in land-for-job scam

New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday joined the probe of Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged land-for-job case involving his father and former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and other family members.

Tejashwi reached the ED's headquarters at 11 a.m. Earlier, the CBI had questioned Tejashwi in the case on March 25. On the same day (March 25) his sister and Rajya Sabha Member Misa Bharti was also questioned by the ED.

In March, the ED had come up on record saying unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, USD 1900, 540 gms gold and 1.5 kg of gold jewellery and other incriminating documents were recovered during the raids which were conducted at 24 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and in Ranchi based on specific intelligence inputs.

The ED had said that they detected around Rs 600 crore, which were the proceeds of crime (POC) in the form of immovable properties worth Rs 350 crore and transactions of Rs 250 crore that were routed through various 'benamidars'.

The ED said that 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 Lalu Prasad in lieu of jobs provided in Railways. The current market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore.

The official said that several 'benamidars', shell entities and beneficial owners for these lands have been identified.

"A property situated at D-1088, New Friends Colony, Delhi (independent 4 storey bungalow, registered in the name of A.B. Exports Private Limited, a company owned and controlled by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and family) was shown to have been acquired at a value of mere Rs 4 lakhs, the present market value of which is approximately Rs 150 crore," the ED claimed.

The official said that huge amounts of cash/proceeds of crime were infused in purchasing this property and few Mumbai-based entities, dealing in the gems and jewellery sector were used to channel ill-gotten proceeds of crime in this regard.

"The property has been, though, on paper declared as the office of A.B. Exports Private Limited and AK Infosystems Pvt ltd, it is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejashwi Prasad. During the searches, Tejashwi Prasad was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property," the ED alleged.

The ED said that their investigation has found that four parcels of lands acquired by the family of Lalu Yadav in just Rs 7.5 lakhs from poor Group-D applicants which 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 that their investigation has further revealed that a major portion of the amount thus received, was transferred to the account of Tejashwi Prasad.

"Investigations revealed that in the similar fashion, lands were taken from several poor parents and candidates in lieu of Group D jobs in the Railways. It has been revealed during the investigation that in many Railways Zones, more than 50 per cent of recruited candidates were from Lalu Yadav families' constituencies," the ED said.

Further investigation in the case is on.