Troubles have kept on piling for Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members ever since the Court’s verdict pronouncing him guilty started to come. One decision followed by another in cases related to scams did not go in his favour. Cases against his son Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav too began surfacing. Bad times for the corrupt Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders are not likely to end anytime soon. According to sources, Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized an under-construction mall in Danapur, Patna. The mall was being built by RJD chief and former CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav. Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav both were partners in the mall along with ex-CM and Lalu Yadav’s wife Rabri Devi. The matter had first been raised by BJP MLA and deputy CM of Bihar, Sushil Modi back in 2017. Sushil Modi had accused the RJD chief and his family for corruption and amassing benami property in the state. The ED seized 11 plots of land belonging to Lalu Yadav and family in total, the price of which is approximately Rs 44.75 crores as reported by the Economic Times.
The go ahead for taking possession of the land were received by the designated authorities under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, following which ED officials lost no time in seizing the assets. The land is in the name of Delight Marketing Company Pvt. Ltd. which is now known as Lara Projects LLP. The managing partner of the firm is Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi while his sons, Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav, are partners in the same. Another partner in the LLP is Meridian Construction India Limited which is promoted by MLA Abu Dojana, a politician belonging to RJD. These properties were attached by ED in 2017 after taking the statements of Rabri Devi, Tejashwi and others who were named in the case. The ED formally registered a case in July last year against Lalu Yadav and all the other named members of his family and party under the provisions of PMLA. The actions have been taken under Section 8 of the PMLA as per the officials.
A CBI FIR too had been registered against Lalu Yadav citing malpractices done by him during his tenure as the Railway Minister in the UPA-I government. The FIR alleged that Lalu Yadav handed over the maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to Sujata Hotels after taking bribes in the form of land from them. The CBI FIR also had the names of Vijay Kochhar and Vinay Kochhar (directors of Sudha hotel) along with those of Delight Marketing Company and the then IRCTC Managing Director P K Goel. Lalu Yadav had allegedly received the aforementioned plots of land from Sujata hotels through a ‘benami’ company owned by Sarla Gupta, wife of former Union Minister and RJD MP Prem Chand Gupta.
Lalu Yadav’s corrupt days are over, the funny guy has left the building and what is left is a trail of corruption and blatant nepotism. It seems his sons too are choosing the same route which led to Lalu Yadav’s downfall and conviction by the Court. All seems to be falling apart for Lalu Yadav and his family as their scams keeps surfacing every now and then. RJD is going through a rough patch for the past couple of years and their decline is likely to continue.