A week after JD(U) severed ruling ties with RJD and returned to the BJP camp to form an NDA government in Bihar, party MLC Rada Charan Sah — popularly known as Radha Charan Seth — was subjected to Enforcement Directorate action on Tuesday. The MLC’s properties worth ₹26 crore were attached by the investigation agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in an alleged sand mining scam.
Mr. Seth, 67, has been in ED custody since September 2023. It was said that he had been allegedly involved in illegal sand mining in the State and had minted huge money.
Hailing from Ara (district headquarters of Bhojpur), Mr. Seth started out as a helper in his father’s sweet shop in the 1970s. His job was to make jalebis and sell them outside the Ara railway station. He later grew to own several hotels, resorts, rice mils and cold storage units in Bihar and other States such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh as well. This reportedly led him to be elected as an MLC from the Bhojpur-Buxar Local Authority Constituency — first from RJD and then from JD(U) in the 2022 elections. He was also made JD(U)‘s State general secretary for local bodies.
