Land for job case: CBI arrests Bhola Yadav, former OSD to Lalu Prasad Yadav
Patna (Bihar), July 27: Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) has arrested Bhola Yadav, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Lalu Prasad Yadav when he was railway minister, in an alleged land-for-job case.
Officials on Wednesday informed that searches are underway in four locations in Bihar.
Earlier, in May, the agency had filed an FIR in the "land for railway job" case and named Lalu Yadav, his wife and daughters among several others as accused.
CBI had conducted searches at 17 properties belonging to Lalu Yadav and his family members in Delhi and Bihar in May.
The alleged scam took place when Laly Yadav was Railway Minister between 2004 to 2009.
The FIR claims that during the period 2004 to 2009 various persons were appointed as substitutes in group D posts in different zones of the Railway in exchange for land, by the unknown Public Servants of the Indian Railway and later they were regularized.
It was also alleged that unnamed Indian Railway personnel did not follow the department's instructions/guidelines for the appointment of Substitutes in Group D posts throughout the relevant time period.
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It went on to say that an investigation revealed that some individuals, despite being residents of Patna, Bihar, were appointed as substitutes in Group D posts in different zones of Railway located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur between 2004 and 2009, and in exchange, the individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav, then Minister of Railway, Government of India, and a Company AK Infosystems Private Limited.
"Out of seven instances of land transfer, it is revealed that three sale deeds were executed in favour of Rabri Devi, wife of Lalu Yadav, one sale deed was executed in the name of Misha Bharti, daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav, one sale deed was executed in favour of M/s AK Infosystems Private Limited, in which later Rabri Devi became major shareholder, in the year 2014 and currently she is one of the Director of the Company. Two gift deeds were executed in favour of Hema Yadav, daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav."
The investigation had initially revealed that a total of 12 people were appointed as substitutes in six different Railway Zones during the period when Lalu Prasad Yadav was Minister of Railways, i.e. from 2004 to 2009, in exchange for the seven instances of land transfer listed above.
Surprisingly, in the majority of cases of land transfer, payment to the sellers was shown to be made in cash. According to the current circle rate, the present value of the seven parcels of land mentioned above, including the land acquired through gift deeds, is approximately Rs 4.39 crore.
The investigation has prima facie revealed that Lalu Prasad Yadav, as Minister of Railways, Government of India, obtained a pecuniary advantage in the name of his family members in the form of land in the matter of appointment of Substitutes in Group D posts in different Railway Zones, it read.
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-PTC News
