‘Thenga mila hai’, said Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Monday, as he scoffed at the Enforcement Directorate’s claim of seizing Rs 600 crore during last week’s raids at the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader’s and his sisters’ residential homes in Delhi.
Tejashwi Yadav rubbished the ED’s claims and claimed that all the probe agency officials found at his Delhi home was a “nod from above.” The RJD leader was speaking to reporters upon returning from celebrating Holi with his father Lalu Prasad Yadav who recently had a kidney transplant surgery.
Repudiating the ED’s claim, Yadav said ‘Thenga mila hai’ (they found zilch), during raids conducted at his Delhi home in connection with the purported land for jobs scam.
The Bihar deputy CM alleged that his sisters and their in-laws were forced to take off jewelry they were wearing and these were photographed and shown as “recovery” by ED officials, adding that his sisters are not involved in politics and got married after Lalu Prasad’s tenure as Railway Minister had ended.
Yadav accused the ruling BJP of targeting his family by “misusing” central agencies against them.
Yadav said the “witch hunt” started in 2017 when “these agencies spoke of Rs 8,000 crore”. The RJD leader was referring to the land for hotels scam, adding “nothing came of that case.
He said that after they were back in power and proved majority in assembly, raids were conducted on RJD leaders on the same day.
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Recalling last week ED raid, Yadav said the search at his Delhi home was over in 30 minutes. He said his wife Rajshree Yadav—who is pregnant with the couple’s first child— offered tea to the ED officials who on being asked, said they can only leave after they get a call from above.
Yadav alleged that the raid was “clearly intended” to carry out a propaganda against him.
Last week, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at Delhi homes of Tejashwi Yadav and his sisters in connection with the alleged land for jobs scam, in which the CBI has named their parents and former Bihar chief ministers, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi as prime accused.
The CBI chargesheet has named Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and 14 others in the purported case which allegedly involves people being given employment in the railways in exchange for land parcels parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family and its associates.
The accused have been charged of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and have been summoned on March 15. The ED, which probes financial crimes, has filed its case stemming from the same CBI complaint, under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On March 7, Lalu Yadav, a former railway minister was questioned by the CBI, day after his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi was grilled by the probe agency in the same case.
The CBI case, which names the Yadav couple and their daughters Misa and Hema, among others, is based on allegations that Yadav and his family members bought land at a discount in exchange for jobs while he served as Union Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009.
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