Railways land-for-jobs case: ED files charge sheet against Lalu Prasad's family, others
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed its first charge sheet in the railways land-for-jobs linked money laundering case, naming former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and her MP daughter Misa Bharti among others, official sources said.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's another daughter Hema Yadav (40), an alleged "close associate" of the Yadav family Amit Katyal (49), a former railway employee Hridayanand Chaudhary, two firms A K Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. and A B Exports Pvt. Ltd., through their common director Shariqul Bari, have also been named in the charge sheet.
The complaint arraying a total of seven accused has been filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi and the court has listed the matter to be heard on January 16, the sources said.
Katyal was arrested in this case by the ED in November last year while Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav were summoned by the agency but they have not deposed till now.
Rabri Devi (68), RJD Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti (47), and two other daughters of Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi-- Chanda Yadav and Ragini Yadav-- have been questioned in this case by the ED.
The alleged scam pertains to the period when Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA-1 government.
It is alleged that from 2004 to 2009, several people were appointed to Group "D" positions in various zones of the Indian Railways and in lieu, these people transferred their land to the family members of the then railway minister Prasad and a linked company named A K Infosystems Private Limited.
A K Infosystems Private Limited is allegedly a "beneficiary company" in the case and its registered address in south Delhi's New Friends Colony was being used by Tejashwi Yadav, the ED had said earlier.
Katyal has been a director of this company, as per the agency.
A B Exports Pvt Ltd is a "shell" or fake company owned by Tejashwi Yadav and Chanda Yadav and its registered address is also the New Friends Colony located bungalow.
The ED alleged Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav sold four land parcels "illegally" acquired from appointees in the Railways to Meridian Construction India Ltd., a company related to Syed Abu Dojana, a former RJD MLA, and the "proceeds of crime" so obtained by Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav were further transferred through a maze of transactions to A B Exports Pvt Ltd and Bhagirathi Tubes respectively.
"Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav sold these land parcels for Rs 3.5 crore against the acquisition cost of Rs 7.5 lakh, thus deriving huge gains," the ED earlier claimed.
The money laundering case, filed under the criminal sections of the PMLA, stems from a complaint lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI has filed a charge sheet in this case earlier.
Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav have been granted bail by a trial court in October in the CBI case.
According to the CBI, no advertisement or public notice was issued for appointment, but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.
As a quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to Prasad's family members at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates, the CBI alleged.
Assets worth more than Rs 6 crore belonging to Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti and linked companies were attached by the ED last year as part of this investigation.
The agency had raided the premises of Chanda Yadav, Ragini Yadav, Hema Yadav, and Abu Dojana in Patna, Phulwari Sharif, Delhi-NCR, Ranchi and Mumbai in March 2023.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
