CBI Raids 9 Locations Linked to RJD in Bihar, Delhi-NCR

Patna: Sukhdeo Rai strongly believes that the CBI raids on nine locations linked to RJD leaders in Bihar, Delhi, Haryana and Noida in the land-for-jobs scam on Tuesday were “inevitable” after the BJP’s Karnataka rout.    

“The CBI and the ED target only opposition leaders. But it will not help the BJP in Bihar,” says Rai resting under a tree to avoid the sun on Patna’s busy Birchand Patel Marg, not far away from offices of ruling RJD, JD(U) and opposition BJP.

“It is unfortunate that while women wrestlers protesting sexual harassment are demanding action against a powerful BJP MP [Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh], the CBI is targeting RJD leaders close to Lalu [Prasad Yadav], Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav. The BJP is using the CBI to harass Lalu, Rabri and Tejashwi again because they oppose it,” Rai alleges.

Ehsan Ahmad, a fruit seller near Gandhi Maidan, seconded Rai. “It is common to target opposition leaders as only BJP leaders are honest. Common people understand it and the Karnataka results are an example,” he says.

According to police officials in the state capital, the CBI raided the houses of RJD MLA Kiran Devi and her husband and former MLA Arun Yadav in Patna and Bhojpur.

पटना में आरजेडी विधायक किरण देवी के आवास पर सीबीआई की रेड चल रही है। किरण देवी के पति अरुण कुमार यादव आरजेडी के विधायक रहे हैं और लालू परिवार के बेहद करीबी माने जाते हैं। #RJD #TejashwiYadav #CBIRaid pic.twitter.com/miHBeZ2FAn

— Bihar Tak (@BiharTakChannel) May 16, 2023

The CBI also raided the houses of RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Prem Chand Gupta in Noida, Delhi and Gurugram.

Upbeat over the BJP’s Karnataka defeat, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar ruling alliance is ready for a meeting with major opposition parties to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election. 

“The BJP’s top leadership is scared of the likely Opposition meeting in Patna. After losing Karnataka, the BJP will target opposition leaders more. As our leader Tejashwi Yadav rightly pointed out, the Karnataka results showed that a united Opposition would defeat BJP and end the myth of the Narendra Modi magic,” RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav told Newsclick.

On March 6, a CBI team quizzed Rabri Devi about the scam at her Patna residence. Tejashwi had said the scam was a move to silence the Opposition. 

“Since the coalition government’s formation and BJP’s ouster last year, the CBI has been used against us. Earlier, the CBI had probed and closed this case and the railway ministry said it wasn’t a scam,” Tejashwi added.

A day before, eight opposition parties, including the RJD, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the “misuse” of Central agencies against the Opposition.

The CBI questioned Rabri Devi nearly a week after a Delhi court summoned Lalu, her, Misa Bharti and 14 others in the case to appear before it on March 15.

In May 2022, the CBI raided 16 premises linked to Lalu and searched multiple locations in Delhi and Bihar after a preliminary inquiry on September 23, 2021, into the charges that several persons were appointed as substitutes to Group-D posts the Railways in exchange for seven land parcels in Patna. As per the charges, these parcels were allegedly acquired by Lalu’s family when he was the railway minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. 

In July 2022, the CBI arrested RJD leader Bhola Yadav, who was Lalu’s officer on special duty when he was the railway minister. In October 2022, the CBI filed a chargesheet for criminal conspiracy and corruption against 17 persons.