The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently claimed that proceeds of crime worth Rs 600 crore were detected during searches on premises owned by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and his family as part of the land-for-jobs case. He has responded to the ED’s claims by asking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make public the list of items seized from his house.

Old allegations

Tejashwi Yadav referred to old allegations against him and his family, stating that before making new allegations of Rs 600 crore, the BJP should have given an account of the old cases to its sources. He specifically mentioned the ‘Urban Cubes’ reference, which pertains to allegations that he was linked to a mall seized in Gurugram, which was eventually learned to be owned by a private company.

Seizure list should be made public

Tejashwi Yadav urged the ED to make public the list of items seized from his premises, stating that instead of spreading misleading rumours or quoting sources planted by the BJP government, the list of the panchnama (seizure list) signed after the raid should be made public. He further added that if he makes it public, then who will respect these poor leaders?

ED’s claims

The ED had tweeted that it seized Rs one crore in “unaccounted cash” and detected proceeds of crime worth Rs 600 crore after raids on 24 locations against Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav and their family. The agency suspected that a huge amount of proceeds of crime was infused into purchasing a house in New Friends Colony in south Delhi that Tejashwi Yadav was using as his residential property. The house, which was among the locations raided, was shown to have been acquired at a value of a mere Rs 4 lakh while the present market value is approximately Rs 150 crore.

Investigation underway

The ED stated that an investigation is underway to unearth more investments made on behalf of Prasad’s family and their associates in various sectors, including real estate. The agency also recovered foreign currency, gold bullion, and jewellery worth about Rs 1.25 crore, along with incriminating documents including property documents and sale deeds held in the names of family members and benamidaars indicating illegal accretion of huge land bank and electronic devices.

CBI charge sheet

The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the land-for-jobs case against Lalu Prasad, his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, and 14 others under charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and all the accused have been summoned on March 15 by a special court.

Opposition criticism

A number of opposition parties have criticized the new spate of activity against opposition leaders by central agencies. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said it was a repeat of what happened in 2017. Nitish heads the Janata Dal (United) which broke away from the BJP to join Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD in the Bihar government.

The ED’s claims of Rs 600 crore in proceeds of crime detected during raids on Tejashwi Yadav and his family’s premises have elicited a response from the RJD leader, who has urged the BJP to make public the list of items seized from his houses. An investigation is underway to unearth more investments made on behalf of Lalu Prasad’s family and their associates in various sectors, including real estate. A number of opposition