The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has ordered the attachement of three acres of land belonging to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav at Saguna Mor in Patna as a part of its investigation in the money laundering probe into the IRCTC hotel allotment scam case. Agency sources have said the land was allegedly in the name of the family members of Lalu Prasad and a mall was supposed to be constructed there. The estimated market value of the plot is Rs 45 crore.
The property has been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had last week questioned Lalu Prasad’s wife and former Bihar Chief Minister, Rabri Devi.
She had repeatedly declined to come to Delhi for questioning, following which a team of ED sleuths were sent to Patna.
They reportedly questioned her for seven hours. The ED has already questioned Rabri Devi’s son Tejashwi Yadav, the former deputy chief minister of Bihar, twice in this case.In July, the agency had registered a case against Lalu Prasad, his family members and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to the first information report lodged by the ED, Lalu favoured Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the up keeping of the IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri, and had received premium land near Saguna Mor under a “quid pro quo” deal in 2005 when he was the railways minister. Delight Marketing Pvt Ltd was rechristened as Lara Projects LLP in 2016.
Rabri and Tejashwi Yadav, her younger son and opposition leader in the Bihar legislative Assembly, are the two shareholders of the firm, holding 85% and 15% shares respectively.
It is alleged that both Delight Marketing Pvt and Lara Projects LLP are shell firms run by Lalu’s family. A multi-storied mall with provisions for a five-star hotel, multiplex, shopping complex, office tower and 1,000 shops was being developed. Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR and conducted multiple searches on the properties of Lalu Prasad and others.