BJP seeks confiscation of Lalu Prasad Yadav's 'benami' properties

Patna: BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday demanded confiscation of the alleged "benami properties" of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family, amassed through their shell business firms and sought legal actions against them.

Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi asked the Nitish Kumar government to impound the "benami properties" of Prasad and his family members and initiate legal proceedings against them under the Bihar Special Courts Act 2010.

"I have produced documents to substantiate my charges levelled against Prasad and his family and hence Nitish Kumar, who swears by Mahatma Gandhi's principles, should muster the courage and take action against his two ministers - Tej Pratap Yadav (Bihar health minister) and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (deputy chief minister) on the basis of documentary proof," he said.

Stating that he would not let the matter "die down," the BJP leader, who is also the leader of opposition in the state legislative council, said "I will take the matter to its logical conclusion.

"Apart from the chief minister, I will also write to the agencies like the CBI, the ED and the IT which must have also been keeping a tab on the allegations being levelled against Prasad's family," he said.

For the last few days, the senior BJP leader had been releasing various documents purportedly showing how Prasad's family got the land and shares of AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd, set up in September 2006 by OP Katyal and Amit Katyal.

The Katyals allegedly had also set up a liquor factory at Bihta near Patna in 2003-04 when Rabri Devi was the state chief minister.

The Katyals had handed over the firm's entire shares and its directorship to Prasad's family in 2014 for helping them in setting up the liquor factory, Sushil Modi alleged.

He said AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd had bought 28.57 decimal (also known as 'dismil' with one dismil being equal to nearly 436 square feet) land at Panapur and 43 decimal of land at Chitkohra in Patna in March 2007.

It purchased another plot of 'two kattha one dhur' (one kattha being equal to 1.65 decimal or 720 square ft and 20 dhur being equal to one kattha) with a two-storey building on it at Salempur Dumra at a cost of Rs 70 lakh from Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in 2010, he said.

The same piece of land worth Rs 14 lakh was gifted to the Yadav brothers by their maternal uncle Prabhunath Yadav in July 2006, Sushil Modi said.

He sought to know as to why would AK Infosystems buy land worth crores of rupees to hand it over to Prasad's family and why would the company's owners give Rs 1.05 crore loan to it to buy the land.

Seeking to know as to how a landless Prabhunath Yadav would gift the land to Tej Pratap and Tejashwi, Modi demanded a probe into the transactions involving the alleged "benami assets."

Sushil Modi had also questioned as to how Prasad's family acquired the ownership of the Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd, which owns prime lands, including two acres at Saguna Mor in Patna where the state's biggest mall is being built.

Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd was re-christened as 'LARA Projects Pvt Ltd' in which Rabri Devi, Tejashwi and Tej Pratap were allegedly made the sole directors in 2014.

Tej Pratap Yadav had also concealed in his election affidavit and in his annual assets declaration form that he had bought 45.24 decimal land worth Rs 53.34 lakh in 2010 in Aurangabad district, the BJP leader had said last week adding that the Aurangabad land is presently worth over Rs 15 crore.