VIJAY
Ranchi, March 10: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids on Friday, at as many as 15 locations in Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Mumbai in connection with the IRCTC scam involving RJD president and former railway minister Lalu Prasad.
Raids were conducted against former RJD MLA and Lalu Prasad’s aide Abu Dojana in Bihar’s Patna. In Ranchi, the ED officials learnt to have searched the office premises of a Chartered Accountant Ajay Kumar who is said to be associated with a CA firm named SK Naik. The ED also carried out raids at properties linked to Lalu Prasad and his family members. In Patna, the ED officials searched the premises of Abu Dojana.
The money laundering raid came a day after the CBI summoned Lalu Prasad for questioning in connection with this scam. The CBI also questioned his wife and former Bihar CM Rabari Devi in this connection.
As per the FIR, Lalu Prasad was union railway minister when he favoured one Sujata hotel in awarding a contract for the upkeep of IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2005. For this, he received prime land near Saguna More under a quid pro quo deal.
The land was registered in the name of Delight Marketing Private Limited in 2005. The total book value of the land was Rs. 19 crore whereas the present market value of the land is around Rs. 44.60 Crore. Later on, Delight Marketing Private Limited was renamed Lara projects LLP in 2016. Rabri Devi and her younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav are the two shareholders of the firm holding 85% and 15% shares respectively. It is alleged that Delight Marketing Private Limited as well as Lara projects LLP are shell companies run by Lalu Yadav’s family. A multi-storied mall with provisions for a five-star hotel multiplex shopping complex office tower and 1000 shops were also planned to be developed on the land by Meridian Construction India Limited. But the project suffered a roadblock as environmental clearance for the project was not obtained. The Income Tax Department had issued an attachment order of 12 properties owned by Lalu Prasad and his family members in Patna and Delhi including the land at Saguna More farmhouse and land in Palam Vihar in the same case.
