The CBI raided premises of former railway minister Lalu Prasad and his family over corruption charges in awarding a tender for maintenance of IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006.
The CBI sleuths on Friday raided 12 premises of RJD chief Lalu Yadav and his family over alleged irregularities in awarding of tenders for hotel maintenance when he was the railway’s minister.
The case has been registered against Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and their son Tejashwi, who is the deputy chief minister of Bihar, CBI sources said. The then Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation managing director PK Goyal and the wife of Prasad’s confidante Prem Chand Gupta, Sujata, are among the other accused. Gupta is a former union corporate affairs minister.
The simultaneous raids in Bihar’s capital Patna, Delhi, Gurgaon in Haryana, Puri in Odisha, and Ranchi in Jharkhand began at around 7:30 am.
The RJD chief was not at his home when a CBI team reached his residence at 10, Circular Road in Patna. He is in Ranchi to appear in a CBI court in the fodder scandal that involves large-scale embezzlement of government funds.
The CBI is examining irregularities in awarding tenders to private firms for operating railway hotels located close to stations. Among the places being raided were a few farm houses and two hotels, including the popular Chanakya BNR Hotel in Ranchi.
The raid, sources said, was being conducted by the Delhi team of the investigating agency.
Earlier the Income Tax department released a list of Lalu’s relatives’ Benami properties seized by it.
The Income Tax department attached a total of 12 plots of Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar, deputy chief minister Tejasvi Yadav and ex chief minister Rabri Devi, and sisters Ragini and Chanda Yadav.
One farmhouse in Delhi and one bungalow in New Friends Colony are also attached. The market value of the total attached property is worth Rs. 175 crore, whereas the book value of the attached property is Rs. 9.32 crore.
The list of the attached property:
- Farm no: 26, Palam Farms, Bijvasan, Delhi.
Benamidars: Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt. Ltd.
Beneficiary: Misa Bharti and Shailesh Kumar
Book Value: Rs. 1.4 cr
Market Value: Rs. 40 cr
- 1088, New Friends Colony
Benamidars: AB Exports Pvt. Ltd.
Beneficiary: Tejasvi Yadav, Chanda and Ragini Yadav
Book Value: Rs. 5 cr
Market Value: Rs. 40 cr
- Nine plots in Jalapur, PS Danapur, Patna
Benamidars: Delight Marketing Pvt. Ltd.
Beneficiary: Rabri Devi, Tejasvi Yadav
Book Value: Rs. 1.9 cr
Market Value: Rs. 65 cr
- Three Plots in Jalapur, PS Danapur, Patna
Benamidars: AK Infosystems
Beneficiary: Rabri Devi, Tejasvi Yadav
Book Value: Rs. 1.6 cr
Market Value: Rs. 20 cr
The I-T department had earlier seized Benami properties of Misa Bharti, Shailesh Kumar and Tejaswi Yadav.
Two summons to Misa were also issued, but after she failed to appear, the I-T department proceeded to seize the properties which were raided in May.
On June 13, the I-T Department summoned Shailesh Kumar, in connection with the benami assets and tax evasion case registered against him.
On June 7, the I-T department slapped a fine of Rs. 10,000 against Shailesh on account of not appearing for interrogation.
Earlier, Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh were summoned by the I-T department in connection with a ‘benami’ assets case.
The summons were issued days after the arrest of Bharti’s Chartered Accountant (CA) Rakesh Agrawal, in connection with an Enforcement Directorate probe into a Rs. 8,000 crore money laundering racket, involving two Delhi-based businessmen and a few political entities.
Agrawal was arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for allegedly being instrumental in providing accommodation entries (illegal funds) to launder the money of businessmen brothers – Virendra Jain and Surendra Jain
The I-T department in its summons reportedly said it wishes to question Misa and her husband on transactions conducted by M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited.
The I-T department had conducted raids and surveys at about 22 locations in Delhi and adjoining areas in connection with alleged benami deals of Rs 1,000 crore by Lalu’s family.
