NEW DELHI: Misa Bharti, Rajya Sabha Parliament member and daughter of former Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad, today, March 25, joined the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) probe in connection with the land-for-job case. She reportedly reached the ED headquarters in New Delhi at midnoon hours.
Earlier this month, ED had stated that unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1 crore, USD 1,900, 540 gm gold and 1.5 kg of gold jewellery and other incriminating documents were recovered during raids at 24 places in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and Ranchi based on specific intelligence inputs.
The ED also claimed to have detected around Rs 600 crore which were Proceeds of Crime in the form of immovable properties worth Rs 350 crore and transactions of Rs 250 crore routed through various 'benamidars'.
Lalu Prasad's family illegally bought multiple plots of land at major places in Patna and other areas in exchange for jobs with the Railways, as per the PMLA inquiry, which was performed so far. These land parcels are currently worth more than Rs 200 crore on the market, it was claimed. These lands have a number of benamidars, shell entities, and beneficial proprietors. As per ED source, "a property located at D-1088, New Friends Colony, Delhi (an independent 4-story bungalow, registered in the name of AB Exports Private Limited, a company owned and controlled by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and family) was shown to have been acquired at a value of just Rs 4 lakhs, with a current market value of about Rs 150 crore." Several Mumbai-based organisations that deal in the gem and jewellery industry were employed to channel ill-gotten profits of crime in this regard, he added. A significant amount of cash/POC was invested in the purchase of this property.
"Although being listed on paper as the offices of AB Exports Private Limited and AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd, Tejashwi Prasad uses the property solely as a residence. Tejashwi Prasad was discovered to be residing at and using this home as his primary residence throughout the searches "said the ED.
Four land tracts purchased by Lalu's family from Group-D applicants for just Rs 7.5 lakhs were later sold to Syed Abu Dojana, a former RJD MLA, by Rabri Devi for Rs 3.5 crore in a shady deal.
The agency said that investigation has further come out that a major portion of the amount thus received, was transferred to the account of Tejashwi Prasad.
"Investigations revealed that other candidates for Group-D employment in the Railways had their lands seized from them in a same manner. More than 50% of hired candidates were from Lalu Prasad's family's constituencies in numerous Railways Zones "ED said.
Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Parliament sparkles globally: Shashi Tharoor
Wayanad observes "black day" over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification
Rahul Gandhi' disqualification 'betrayal of Gandhian philosophy': UN Rep Khanna