Enforcement Directorate To Question Tejashwi Yadav Tomorrow In Land-For-Jobs Case

The Enforcement Directorate will tomorrow question Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in the land-for-jobs case. The probe agency has summoned Mr Yadav to its Delhi headquarters. The ED had conducted raids at his Delhi residence soon after Holi, and claimed searches at 24 locations led to recovery of a large sum of unaccounted cash and other valuable belongings. Mr Yadav hit back, saying the agency got "zero" in their searches, and challenged them to make the seizure list public. He also slammed the BJP government for "spreading rumours" and "planting news".

Mr Yadav and his family members are accused of buying land dirt-cheap in exchange for jobs during his father RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav's stint as Union Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009.

The current market value of land allegedly acquired in exchange for jobs by Lalu Yadav's family when he was the Railway Minister is approximately Rs 200 crore, ED had claimed.

ED claimed that its searches last month at 24 locations in Delhi-National Capital Region, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi led to the recovery of unaccounted Rs 1 crore cash, foreign currency of $1,900, 540-gram gold bullion, over 1.5 kg of gold jewellery worth Rs 1.25 crore and property documents in the name of Lalu Yadav's family members.

The ED alleged four land parcels acquired by Lalu Yadav's family for just Rs 7.5 lakh from poor Group-D applicants were sold to former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Syed Abu Dojana by Lalu Yadav's wife Rabri Devi for Rs 3.5 crore in a "collusive deal".

It alleged a big portion of the amount was sent to Tejashwi Yadav's account.

"... During the investigation that in many railways zones, more than 50 per cent of recruited candidates were from Lalu Yadav families' constituencies. Further investigation in this regard is ongoing," the ED said in the statement.

The CBI, which is probing charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and corruption in the case, has alleged in its charge sheet that "irregular appointments" were made in the Railways in violation of rules. As a quid pro quo, it alleges, those who got jobs sold land to the Yadavs at highly discounted rates.

Mr Yadav and leaders of his RJD, and even their ally and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, have dismissed the allegations by the ED as politically motivated.

Sources close to Tejashwi Yadav had criticised the timing of the searches at his Delhi residence, saying they never expected this kind of vendetta politics from the BJP when his wife is expecting a child. His sister said her family was being "tortured" only because her family has never bent in front of "fascists and rioters".