Gurugram/Patna: In the alleged land for job scam, the CBI on Wednesday raided the places of RJD leaders of Bihar and conducted searches in around 25 locations in Bihar, Delhi and Haryana. The CBI team raided several places in Sector 71, Sector 65 and Sector 42 of Gurugram including the under-construction 'Urban Cubes' mall in Sector 71.
This mall is being constructed by Whiteland Real Estate Developers. Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, according to sources, has a major stake in this mall. The CBI also raided the Whiteland office in Sector 71. The raids started at 8 am and lasted for about 6 hours during which the CBI team examined many documents and also interrogated the people present there.
The CBI team seized a printer, laptop and some other documents. The railway recruitment scam, also called the land for job scam, dates back to the period between 2004 and 2009 when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Railway Minister.
Meanwhile, the ruling 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar on Wednesday cried foul over the CBI raidsTejashwi Yadav said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has become scared after the formation of a new government in Bihar.
He said, “We will reply inside the house. You must have heard Sau Sunar ki, Ek Lohar Ki. BJP was scared of a new government formed in Bihar. All parties are with us.” The CBI raids, in connection with a railway land for jobs scam, commenced barely a few hours before the new government was to prove its majority on the floor of the state assembly. "I do not wish to comment on the merits and demerits of the case. But the timing of the raids is a clear indication that the investigating agencies are trying to help the BJP," alleged Upendra Kushwaha, parliamentary board president of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U).
Also Read-Land-for-jobs scam: CBI searches at premises of RJD leaders ahead of Nitish Kumar's floor test
The BJP has been stripped of power on account of the volte-face earlier this month by Kumar, who has now aligned with the RJD, Congress, and Left combine. Former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, whose own residence here was raided by the agency in connection with the case a few months ago, told reporters, "The people are watching and they can understand what is behind these raids."
The case pertains to her husband and RJD president Lalu Prasad's tenure as railway minister. Raids were taking place at the residences of party MLC Sunil Singh, a close aide, besides Rajya Sabha MPs Ashfaq Karim and Faiyaz Ahmed and former MLC Subodh Rai. Singh screamed before reporters from the balcony of his Rajbanshi Nagar apartment, "It is clearly an intimidatory tactic. Why else is the raid being conducted today? We cannot even see the local police, who normally accompany CBI officials during raids."
Singh is also the Chairman of Bihar State Cooperative Union (BISCOMAUN) and a team of CBI officials was at his office near Gandhi Maidan, about five kilometers away, as well. CPI(ML) MLA Sandeep Saurav told reporters outside the assembly, "These raids clearly show that the BJP has thrown constitutional propriety to the winds. No raid takes place at any leader of the party which is in power at the Centre as well as in so many states."
BJP leaders, however, saw it as a comeuppance for Kumar, their former ally, who not only turned his back on them but also allied with "corrupt" parties like the RJD and the Congress. "It is the RJD which is sitting on a heap of wealth and therefore its leaders are facing the heat. Nitish Kumar not only betrayed the mandate given to NDA for ruling Bihar but also tied up with the corrupt," BJP leader and former minister Pramod Kumar said.
"We are not worried about allegations of witch-hunting. Sonia Gandhi had knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court. Nothing came of it," he said. Incidentally, while Singh is the BISCOMAUN chairman, Karim and Ahmed own private medical colleges at Katihar and Madhubani, respectively. (With agency inputs)
