The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested Bhola Yadav, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, and a Railway employee, for their alleged involvement in the land-for-job scam.
The said employee, Hridayanand Choudhary, was allegedly a beneficiary of the scam. “On Wednesday, searches were conducted at two places in Patna, including the premises of Mr. Yadav’s chartered accountant, and two in Darbhanga, Bihar. Mr. Yadav was the then Railway Minister’s OSD in 2004-09,” said a CBI official.
Another alleged beneficiary named Dharmendra Rai was arrested about two weeks ago.
In May, the agency had searched over a dozen locations in Delhi and Bihar after registering the case against Mr. Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, two daughters Misha Bharti and Hema Yadav, and 12 others for alleged appointment of substitutes to the Railways’ Group-D posts in lieu of land parcels.
The case is based on a CBI preliminary inquiry, launched on September 23, 2021, into the allegation that during 2004-09 several persons were appointed as substitutes to the Group-D posts in different zones, in exchange for land. The beneficiaries were later regularised.
‘Approval for substitutes’
As alleged, no advertisement or public notice had been issued for the appointments. The beneficiaries’ applications were not properly addressed to the departments concerned, but were instead processed in alleged violation of the rules laid down.
“...undue haste was shown in processing certain applications of candidates and, surprisingly, within three days from the date of receipt of the respective applications, their appointments as substitutes were approved,” said the FIR.
The FIR stated that several residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur. The land parcels given as bribes were transferred in the name of Mr. Prasad’s family members and AK Infosystem Private Limited.
Seven such instances, including one in which four members of a family were appointed in 2008, was detected by the agency. Three sale deeds were executed in favour of Ms. Devi, one land was transferred in the name of Ms. Bharti and another “sold” to AK Infosystems, whose assets were later taken over by Mr. Prasad’s wife and a daughter in 2014, the FIR said.
While two land parcels were initially given to Mr. Choudhary, a Gopalganj resident, and Lalan Choudhary from Siwan, the two later executed gift deeds in Ms. Hema’s favour.
About 1,05,292 sq ft of land in Patna was acquired by Mr. Prasad’s family members via five sale deeds and two gift deeds. In most cases, payment to the sellers was shown in cash. The current circle-rate value of the seven land parcels is more than ₹4.39 crore.
The land parcels directly transferred to Mr. Prasad’s family members were purchased at prices ranging from ₹3.75 lakh to ₹13 lakh, lower than the then prevailing circle rates, the FIR further stated.
Who is Bhola Yadav?
Mr. Yadav, who has been close to the former Union Minister’s family since long, is currently the general secretary of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. He has also been a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. He took care of the ailing Mr. Prasad in hospital and outside, and was also managing his political appointments.
Recently, Mr. Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav had taken to Twitter to slam Mr. Yadav, claiming the latter had prevented him from reciting the Bhagavad Gita inside Mr. Prasad’s hospital room for his speedy recovery.
