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Allegations: Railway Minister from India charged in land-for-jobs corruption case
The officials at CBI on Friday submitted the closure report in connection with the case involving former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for this scam called land_for_job. The alleged scam, linked to the railway recruitment job forRua, involves 78 people, including Rabri Devi Yadav’s wife Tej Pratap Yadav’s mother.
The accused persons named in the charge sheet included Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was railway minister during 2004 to 2009, railway officials and his family which was charged with defrauding the railway group D recruitment examination meant for low ranking clerk’s posts, which are basically meant for carrying out routine activities as per the Indian railways’ recruitment rules. Consequently, these candidates or their families leased out their land parcels to Yadav’s family at ACRs, or received such leaseholds as gifts. The CBI conducted raids and searched the camp office of Yadav they got a hard disk in which they were able to seize the job cards of 1,458 youths who were given jobs during his tenure.
In its probe, CBI came across shocking revelations that no advertisement or public notice has been put out for these appointments. These were much sought-after reserving out candidates mostly drawn from constituencies associated with Yadav family and offered as substitutes and later on regularized once land was transferred.
Apart from Yadav, there were other 29 railway officials, 37 candidates, and six private individuals charge-sheeted in the case. In this case, the CBI has charged Sawan, Ramesh and Anup, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) relating to criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
This has been obtained from the documents of land deeds as well as the list of candidates which is seized from the properties belonging to Yadav’s family and their associates during the raids conducted. Bhola Yadav, Former OSD of Lalu Prasad was arrested in last July and accused in the case involving criminal conspiracy to allow the land transfers & Jobs appointments.
The Yadav family and associates have strongly dismissed the allegations that have been leveled against them as politically motivated since the state of Bihar that was once a JDU-BJP alliance is now a JD(U)-RJD alliance. In the Indian law the accused will be taken to have a clean bill, guilty only if their guilt will be proven in court.
