ED files supplementary charge sheet against Lalu and Tejaswi Yadav

New Delhi [India], August 6 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed its supplementary charge sheet on Tuesday against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, former deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav and other accused in the land for job scam case in the Rouse Avenue Court.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne took on record the Supplementary Charge Sheet, which has named 11 more accused. It also has 96 relied-upon documents.

It also has the names Lallan Chaudhary, Hazari Rai, Dharmender Kumar, Akhileshwar Singh, Ravinder Kumar, Late Lal Babu Rai, Sonmatia Devi, Late Kishun Dev Rai and Sanjay Rai.

The court has listed the matter on August 13 for checking of the charge sheet and documents.

On July 6, the Rouse Avenue court granted time and directed that ED file an additional or concluding charge sheet by the next date of hearing.

The Joint Director of Enforcement also appeared pursuant to the direction of the court. He informed the court about the status of the investigation and the steps taken by the agency.

Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti and Hema, along with other accused, had already been charged by the ED in this case.

ED’s SPP Manish Jain, along with Ishan Baisla and Snehal Sharda, filed the supplementary charge along with documents before the court.

On the last date, the court had directed the ED to expedite the investigation, and it had directed that file an additional /concluding charge sheet by the next date.

In April, the court directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to finalise the conclusion of the pending investigation in the Land for Jobs money laundering case within two weeks.

In this case, Bihar’s former CM Rabri Devi, her daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, along with Amit Katyal and Hridyanand Chaudhary, have been charged. All accused except Amit Katyal appeared through video conferencing.

Earlier On February 28, the court granted regular bail to Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav and Hridyanand Chaudhary.

Earlier On January 27, the court issued summons to former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav, Hridyanand Chaudhary and other accused in the Land for Job money laundering case. Amit Katyal was arrested by the ED during the investigation.

Two firms, namely A K Infosystem and A B Export, have also been accused in this case.

ED had submitted that in 2006-07, A K Infosystem was formed by Amit Katyal and its business was IT data analysis. No real business was done. Instead, several land parcels were bought by the company. One land parcel pertains to the main predicate offence, which is land for a job.

This company was transferred in the name of Rabri Devi and Tejaswi Yadav in 2014 for the consideration of one lakh rupees, ED submitted.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 9, 2024 filed a Prosecution Complaint (Charge sheet) in Land for job scam money laundering case.

ED submitted that A-B Export was supposed to be in the business of export. It was incorporated in 1996. In 2007, Rs. five crore came through five companies and a property in the New Friends colony was purchased.

In this case, seven land parcels are involved. Out of these, Rabri, Hema Yadav, and Misa Bharti got land parcels. Later on, they sold out their land parcels.

ED’s Special Public Prosecutor had apprised the court that the Yadav family members are beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime.

Katyal is said to be a close aide of former railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

The Delhi High Court had refused to quash Enforcement Directorate (ED) proceedings against Amit Katyal, who is accused of engaging in transactions with the family members of former railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

According to the ED in March, based on the specific intelligence inputs, searches were conducted at 24 locations at various places in Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi in the Railways Land for Job Scam, which resulted in the recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, foreign currency including USD 1900, 540 grams of gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery (worth approximately Rs 1.25 e), as well as sev several other incriminating documents, including various property documents, sale deeds, etc., held in the names of family members and benamidaars, indicating illegal accretion of huge land bank and electronic devices.

Searches resulted in the detection of proceeds of crime amounting to approximately Rs 600 crore at this point in time, which are in the form of immovable properties of Rs 350 crore and transactions of Rs 250 crore routed through various benamidaars, ED stated.

According to the ED PMLA investigation conducted so far, several pieces of land at prominent locations in Patna and other areas were illegally acquired by the family of the then Rail Mantri, Lalu Prasad Yadav, in lieu of jobs provided by railways. The current market value of these land parcels is more than Rs. 200 crore. In this regard, several benamidars, shell entities and beneficial owners of these lands have been identified.

Further, investigation under PMLA revealed that the property situated at New Friends Colony, Delhi (an independent 4-story bungalow registered in the name of M/s A B Exports Private Limited, a company owned and controlled by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and his family) was shown to have been acquired at a value of mere Rs 4 lakhs, the present market value of which is approximately Rs.150 crore. It is suspected that a huge amount of cash or proceeds from crime has been infused into purchasing this property and a few Mumbai-based entities dealing in the gems and jewellery sector were used to channel the ill-gotten proceeds of crime in this regard. The property has been, on paper, declared as the offices of M/s A B Exports Private Limited and M/s AK Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. It is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejasvi Prasad Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav. During the searches, Tejasvi Prasad Yadav was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property.

An ED investigation has found that 4 parcels of land acquired by the family of Lalu Yadav for just Rs. 7.5 lakhs from poor Group-D applicants were sold to Syed Abu Dojana, an ex-RJD MLA, by Mrs. Rabri Devi with huge gains of Rs 3.5 crore in a collusive deal. The ED investigation further revealed that a major portion of the amount thus received was transferred to the account of Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Investigations revealed that, in a similar fashion, lands were taken from several poor parents and candidates in lieu of Group D jobs in the railways. It has been revealed during the investigation that in many railway zones, more than 50% of the recruited candidates were from Lalu Yadav families’ constituencies, according to ED.