Land For Job Scam: Details On Cases Against Lalu Prasad, His wife And Others

The CBI conducted searches in various locations in Delhi and Bihar in connection with a fresh case registered against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, two daughters, and 12 others in which Railways’ Group-D aspirants allegedly gave over Rs. 1 lakh square feet of prime plots in Patna for jobs. 

Just a month ago, Lalu Prasad Yadav got bail in a multi-crore fodder scam case. In the FIR, CBI has also alleged that "in lieu thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members sold and gifted their land situated at Patna in favour of the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav and a private company controlled by family members, which was also involved in the transfer of such immovable properties in the name of family members."

The CBI found seven cases where jobs were allegedly given to undeserved candidates when their family members transferred lands to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family.

In one of the deals,  Patna resident Kishun Deo Rai transferred his 3,375 square feet of land in Rabri Devi's name for Rs 3.75 lakh. In the same year, Raj Kumar Singh, Mithilesh Kumar, and Ajay Kumar, of the same family were appointed as substitutes in the Group D post in Central Railway, Mumbai.

In another case, Sanjay Rai, a resident of  Mahuabagh, Patna sold his 3,375 square feet plot to Rabri Devi for Rs 3.75 lakh. The incident took place in 2008. According to the CBI report, Sanjay Rai and his two other family members were given jobs in the Railways.

Kiran Devi, a resident of Patna, transferred her 80,905 square feet of land in November 2007 to Misa Bharti, the daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav. After that, her son Abhishek Kumar was appointed as a substitute in Central Railway, Mumbai in the year 2008.

CBI in the report said, Hazari Rai a resident of Patna sold his 9,527 square feet of land in February 2007 to AK Infosystem Private Limited, a Delhi-based Company, and all the rights and assets of the firm were transferred to the daughter and wife of Lalu Prasad Yadav in 2014. Two nephews of Hazari Rai, Dilchand Kumar, and Prem Chand Kumar, were appointed as substitutes in the West Central Railway, Jabalpur, and South Eastern Railway Kolkata in 2006.

Lal Babu Rai a resident of Patna in May 2015 transferred his 1360 square feet of land to Rabri Devi for Rs. 13 lakh. CBI report says that son of Lal Babu was appointed as a substitute in the year 2006 in North Western Railway, Jaipur.

In another case, Brij Nandan Rai transferred 3,375 square feet of land to a Gopalganj resident, Hridyanand Choudhary. Later the land was given as a gift to Hema, daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Vishun Dev Rai transferred his 3,375 square feet of land to a Siwan resident, Lalan Choudhary in the year 2008.

According to the FIR, "Enquiry has revealed that about 1,05,292 sq feet of land located in Patna was acquired by family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Interestingly, in most of the cases of land transfer, payment to the sellers was shown to be paid in cash. The current value of land parcels, including the land acquired through gift deeds as per existing circle rate, is about Rs 4.39 crore."

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