Are troubles brewing for the all-influential Yadav family of Bihar? The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed a charge sheet against former Union Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and their daughter Misa Bharti in connection with the land for job scam case.
A CBI official, wishing not to be named, told The New Indian, “CBI has named Lalu, Rabri Devi and Misa Bharti in the charge sheet.” He said that the agency has also named 13 other persons in the charge sheet.
Apart from Lalu, Rabri Devi and Misa Bharti, CBI charge sheet also named Sowmya Raghvan, the then GM, Railways; Kamal Deep Mainrai, the then CPO, Railways; Rajkumar Singh, Substitute; Mithlesh Kumar, Substitute; Ajay Kumar, Substitute; Sanjay Kumar, Substitute; Dharmendra Kumar, Substitute; Vikas Kumar, Substitute; Abhishek Kumar, Substitute; Ravindra Rai, Pvt person; Kiran Devi, Pvt person; Akhileshwar Singh, Pvt person and Ramashish Singh, Pvt person.
According to a CBI source, the agency has recovered over 200 sale deeds so far during the investigation and agency searches in August of this year. The source said that many candidates would have given their land to get jobs.
The source claimed that CBI’s initial investigation showed the identification of 12 such candidates who got the job when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister between 2004 and 2009 in the UPA I government.
The source further said that its probe so far revealed that Bhola Yadav, then OSD of Lalu Prasad Yadav, was persuading the engagement of various substitute candidates in Group D with the concerned railway authorities.
Bhola Yadav was arrested earlier this year by the CBI. The source said that Bhola Yadav was instrumental in the finalisation and execution of land deals relevant to the case.
The source said that during the probe it was also revealed that Bhola Yadav was collecting applications from various candidates for engagement as substitutes in Group D at the Camp Office of Lalu Yadav and Rabri Yadav at 10 Circular Road in Patna.
The source further stated that during police custody of Bhola Yadav, certain critical documents were recovered that are crucial for the investigation.
It has also come to light that named candidates, though residents of Patna during the period 2004-09, were appointed as substitutes in different zones of the railway – Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hajipur – and in lieu of that, their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav and a company called AK Infosystem. The source said that AK Infosystem was taken over by family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Thereof 1,05,292 square feet of land in Patna was acquired by family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav through two gift deeds and five sale deeds. “In most of the sale deeds, the seller was mentioned to have paid in cash,” the source added.
The CBI had registered a fresh case against Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, his other daughter Hema Yadav and others in May this year. The CBI also carried out searches at multiple locations in Delhi, Patna, Gopalganj, Gurugram and others in connection with the case.