Highlights
- A team of 10 CBI officials had reached Sunil Singh's Patna residence at 8 am today
- The RJD MLC said the raids are being conducted intentionally
- Searches by the CBI were also underway at several locations across Jharkhand
Bihar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday raided the residences of several leaders of the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), reportedly in connection with the "land for jobs" scam.
The raids were conducted at the properties linked to RJD MLC Sunil Singh and three MPs - Ashfaque Karim, Faiyaz Ahmed and Subodh Roy.
Meanwhile, supporters of Sunil Singh, RJD MLC and Chairman of Biscomaun Patna, gathered outside his residence in Patna in protest against the CBI raid.
The agency is carrying out raids in the state in connection with the alleged land-for-job scam.
The party questioned the timing of the raids as it comes on the day when the newly formed Bihar government faces a trust vote on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha.
Manoj Jha, RJD MP said the raids were done on purpose to intimidate the party's legislators.
"It is being done intentionally. There is no meaning to it. They are doing it thinking that out of fear, MLAs will come in their favour," said Singh, RJD MLC and Chairman of Bihar state co-operative marketing union ltd. (BISCOMAUN) whose house was raided today.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said, "Useless to say that it is a raid by ED or IT or CBI, it is a raid by Bharatiya Janata Party. They work under BJP now, their offices run with BJP script. Today is Floor Test (in Bihar Assembly) & what's happening here? It has become predictable," said.
Jha further said, ' Our Deputy CM had said in the meeting yesterday that they will reach this level now. It didn't take even 24 hours. They stooped even lower. What is this anger? That a Government did not run according to your wishes? That it changed the alliance for public welfare?"
JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar said that the BJP-led government is misusing the central investigative agencies
"The central government has used CBI and ED as government instruments. Today, the state government is about to prove its majority and you (BJP) sent CBI and ED for 'Shakti Parikshan'. Bihar is the land of democracy and does not matter if you send a dozen agencies, there is no one to create pressure on Mahagathbandhan's MLAs," the JDU MLC said.
Earlier in May, the CBI had filed an FIR in the "land for railway job" case and named Lalu Yadav, his wife and daughters among several others as accused in the case. CBI conducted searches at 17 locations belonging to Lalu Yadav and his family members in Delhi and Bihar in May.
The CBI had in July arrested Bhola Yadav, who used to be the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Lalu Prasad Yadav when he was railway minister, in the alleged land-for-job case.
The case relates to alleges irregularities during Lalu Yadav's tenure as Railway minister (2004-2009).
It is alleged that Lalu Yadav and his family members received land and properties as bribes for giving out railway jobs.
(With inputs from ANI)
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