PATNA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached a 3-acre plot worth Rs 45 crore in Patna, which was allegedly transferred to Lalu's family as quid pro quo under a railway tender scam in 2005, when the RJD chief was railways minister.
The development comes days after the agency grilled Lalu Prasad's wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi for over six hours.
Agency sources claimed that the land near Saguna Mor was registered under the name of Delight Marketing Pvt Ltd in 2005 at the book value of Rs 1.9 crore but is presently valued at Rs 44.60 crore.
Delight marketing was rechristened as Lara Projects LLP in 2016, in which Rabri and her younger son and leader of opposition in Bihar legislative assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav are the only two shareholders.
It is alleged that Delight Marketing as well as its successor Lara Projects are shell firms run by Lalu's family.
A mall with provisions for a five-star hotel, multiplex, shopping complex, office tower and as many as 1,000 shops was being developed on the land by Meridian Construction (India) Limited, a firm owned by RJD MLA and Lalu's close associate Abu Dojana.
However, a stay on construction of the mall was imposed by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change in May for not taking a mandatory environmental clearance for the same.
On September 12, the income tax (I-T) department issued an attachment order of over a dozen properties under the railways tender case in Patna and Delhi including the land of the mall at Saguna Mor, a farm house and a land in Palam Vihar area in south Delhi's upmarket New Friends Colony area.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) lodged by ED on July 27 is broadly based on the FIR lodged by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 5 in the railways tender case against Lalu, Rabri, their younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and others.
The FIR states that Lalu allegedly extended favors to Sujata Hotels, a company owned by Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, in awarding a contract for the upkeep of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels in Ranchi and Puri and received premium land near Saguna Mor in Patna under a "quid pro quo" deal.
Tejashwi earlier appeared before ED investigators in New Delhi on October 10 and November 13 for marathon quizzing.
Calling the move a political vendetta, Tejashwi said that the ED was working under pressure from the central government.
"I have appeared before ED twice, my mother (Rabri) has also appeared before them once and answered all their questions. Still they have issued the attachment order. Though we know that it is a routine affair but ED is surely working under pressure from the central government. BJP is misusing central government agencies against opposition leaders including us," he said.
Tejashwi added that he is waiting for the CBI to file its chargesheet in the railways tender case, following which he would give point-wise explanation on the charges levelled against his family in the court as well as in public domain.
The development comes days after the agency grilled Lalu Prasad's wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi for over six hours.
Agency sources claimed that the land near Saguna Mor was registered under the name of Delight Marketing Pvt Ltd in 2005 at the book value of Rs 1.9 crore but is presently valued at Rs 44.60 crore.
Delight marketing was rechristened as Lara Projects LLP in 2016, in which Rabri and her younger son and leader of opposition in Bihar legislative assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav are the only two shareholders.
It is alleged that Delight Marketing as well as its successor Lara Projects are shell firms run by Lalu's family.
A mall with provisions for a five-star hotel, multiplex, shopping complex, office tower and as many as 1,000 shops was being developed on the land by Meridian Construction (India) Limited, a firm owned by RJD MLA and Lalu's close associate Abu Dojana.
However, a stay on construction of the mall was imposed by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change in May for not taking a mandatory environmental clearance for the same.
On September 12, the income tax (I-T) department issued an attachment order of over a dozen properties under the railways tender case in Patna and Delhi including the land of the mall at Saguna Mor, a farm house and a land in Palam Vihar area in south Delhi's upmarket New Friends Colony area.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) lodged by ED on July 27 is broadly based on the FIR lodged by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 5 in the railways tender case against Lalu, Rabri, their younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and others.
The FIR states that Lalu allegedly extended favors to Sujata Hotels, a company owned by Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, in awarding a contract for the upkeep of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels in Ranchi and Puri and received premium land near Saguna Mor in Patna under a "quid pro quo" deal.
Tejashwi earlier appeared before ED investigators in New Delhi on October 10 and November 13 for marathon quizzing.
Calling the move a political vendetta, Tejashwi said that the ED was working under pressure from the central government.
"I have appeared before ED twice, my mother (Rabri) has also appeared before them once and answered all their questions. Still they have issued the attachment order. Though we know that it is a routine affair but ED is surely working under pressure from the central government. BJP is misusing central government agencies against opposition leaders including us," he said.
Tejashwi added that he is waiting for the CBI to file its chargesheet in the railways tender case, following which he would give point-wise explanation on the charges levelled against his family in the court as well as in public domain.
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