In fresh trouble for Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money-laundering case under the PMLA Act against RJD chief and his family members in connection with allotment of railway hotels to a company. The fresh case comes a day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ditched the RJD to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which also rules the Centre.
Earlier this month, the CBI had conducted raids across four cities in connection with the case in which Lalu along with his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav and others are named accused. The case dates back to when he was Union railway minister in the UPA government. The roots of the current case go back to the 2001 decision of the then NDA government to hand over management of catering services of railway hotels to IRCTC.
The ED took cognisance of a CBI FIR and registered a under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED officials said that the agency will probe the alleged “proceeds of crime” generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies.
It is alleged that Lalu Yadav as Railway minister handed over the maintenance of two railway hotels to a company after receiving an alleged bribe in the form of prime land in Patna through a benami company owned by Sarla Gupta.
The FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with alleged favours extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as a "quid pro quo", the CBI has alleged.
Meanwhile, Lalu today said that Nitish Kumar joined hands with BJP to ensure raids by CBI, ED on RJD leaders and to malign them.
