Fresh trouble for Lalu Yadav and family. Naidu says CBI doing its duty, no role of Centre, BJP.
The CBI on Friday carried out searches at 12 locations after registering a corruption case against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members including his son Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav.
The searches started at seven in the morning and were spread out at 12 locations in Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and Gurugram.
The CBI has registered the case against 69-year-old Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav and Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, former union minister.
Others named as accused in the FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar, both directors of Sujata Hotels and owner of Chanakya Hotel, Delight marketing company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC Managing Director P K Goel.
Speaking to media, Lalu Yadav said that it's a conspiracy against him and the Opposition is being targeted. "Nothing wrong was done in the tendering, this is a BJP conspiracy. Me and my party will not be cowed down," The RJD chief said.
"The case is of criminal conspiracy (120-B), cheating (420) under IPC and corruption," said Additional Director CBI Rakesh Asthana.
"Allegation is that during this process, tender process was rigged and manipulated and the conditions were tweaked to help the private party (Sujata Hotel). In return, three acre land in western Patna was given to Delight Marketing which is known to the family of Lalu Yadav at a very low cost and subsequently between the period 2010 to 2014, this land was further transferred to another company Lara Projects owned by family members of Lalu Yadav," he said.
This transfer also took place at a very low price. Whereas the land was valued at 32 crore as per the circle rate, it was transferred to merely 65 lakh to Lara Projects, Asthana said.
Meanwhile, stating that it has become a fashion to level false allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by the opposition, Union Information and Technology Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday clarified that the Government has no role in the current raids
"The government and the BJP have no role in CBI raids on Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family. CBI is doing its duty and acting as per the mandate given to it by law," Naidu said.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Modi on Thursday expressed his gratefulness to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose party Janata Dal (United) first exposed the case of Delight Marketing, urging him further to sack Deputy Chief Minister Tejasvi Yadav.
"I would like to thank Nitish Kumar because it was his party Janata Dal (United ) who first exposed this. The two people, Lallan Singh, who is now a minister in the Bihar Government, and Shivananad Tiwari, who after changing colour like a chameleon, is standing with Lalu disclosed this matter, were actually the ones who brought the case of delight marketing to light for the first time," Modi said.
(With agency inputs)
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