The CBI named Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, their two daughters, Misha Bharti and Hema Yadav, and 12 other individuals and unknown public servants in a fresh case against the RJD supremo for his role in an alleged recruitment scam during his stint as the Union railway minister. The case relates to appointments of substitutes in Group D posts in lieu of seven parcels of land to the family.
A preliminary enquiry was registered by the economic offences unit of CBI in September 2021. According to the FIR, the enquiry by the central agency revealed that during the period 2004-09, some individuals who were residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in Group D in different zones of Railways, allocated in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hajipur. The individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of Lalu Yadav and a certain company, as payment. The FIR lists at least seven instances of land transfer—five were sale deeds executed in favour of Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti and a company named Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. in which Rabri became a major share holder in 2014, and is currently one of the directors. The CBI FIR further stated that two were gift deeds in favour of Hema Yadav and Lalu Yadav.
''The enquiry has, prima facie, revealed that 12 persons were appointed as substitutes in six different zones of Railways, during the period when Lalu Yadav was minister of railways between 2004-2009, in exchange of the seven instances of land transfer,'' says the FIR. It was alleged that unknown officials and public servants of Indian Railways did not follow the guidelines. According to CBI, around 1,05,292 square feet land in Patna was acquired by Lalu Yadav’s family through these seven (five sale deeds and two gift deeds) land bribes. The payments were made in cash to sellers. The CBI said the current value of the seven land parcels is estimated to be around Rs 4.39 crore. According to investigators, Yadavs paid only around few lakhs of rupees for these land parcels.
The FIR, which explains the modus operandi in each deal, says in the first instance, two residents of Mahobagh transferred the sale deed of a 3,375sqft of land near Patna to Rabri Devi on sale for Rs 3,75,000. Thereafter, three members of the family, namely Sanjay Rai, Dharamender Singh, who are son and grandsons of sellers, late Kishun Deo Rai and Sonmatiya Devi, were appointed as substitutes in Group D post in central railways in Mumbai in 2008. In another instance, Kiran Devi, a resident of village Bindaul in Patna transferred a parcel of around one acre of land to Lalu's daughter for consideration of Rs 3,70,000 and her son Abhishek Kumar got a job as substitute in central railways in 2008. In yet another case, the CBI alleged that the land was even sold to shell companies which was later transferred to his wife and daughter.
The allegations are likely to kick up a political storm with Yadavs claiming that the charges are baseless. The CBI, in its ten page FIR, accused Lalu Yadav of abusing his official position and obtaining pecuniary advantage in the name of his family members. On Thursday, the CBI conducted raids in at least 16 locations in Patna, Gopalganj and Delhi, with agency officials claiming that further probe is on to uncover the elaborate network. Apparently, the probe is being conducted by same unit of CBI that recently conducted searches at the residences of Karti Chidambaram in another case.
