IT officials raid premises of Lalu's close aide

Income Tax officials Wednesday conducted raids here at a number of premises owned by an RJD MLA, considered close to Lalu Prasad Yadav, in connection with the hotels-for-land scam during the latter's tenure as the railway minister.

A total of three properties owned by Syed Abu Dojana, two of these in the city and another at Danapur on the outskirts were raided by the Income Tax sleuths, sources in the department said.

They said Dojana, who represents Sursand assembly constituency in Bihar's Sitamarhi district, has been on the radar of the department as his company was said to be involved in the construction of a mall allegedly owned by the family of RJD president Lalu Prasad.

The mall was being constructed on a three-acre plot of land, which was attached by the Enforcement Directorate earlier this year.

Lalu Yadav's political opponents, most notably deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, have been alleging that the mall was being built at a staggering cost of Rs 750 crore with the help of "ill-gotten money belonging to the family".

Meanwhile, RJD spokesperson and MLA Ejya Yadav expressed strong resentment over the raids, saying it is "yet another desperate attempt at the behest of the BJP and its alliance partner Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to disturb and destroy Lalu Prasad Yadav".

"For long, Kumar and the BJP have been involved in a smear campaign against Lalu Yadav and his family. Although they hold power in the state and at the Centre, with the police and other central investigating agencies at their disposal, no allegations levelled against Lalu, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and other members of the family have been backed by any credible evidence," Ejya Yadav said.

"Lalu Yadav's political adversaries have always lived in fear of his formidable political base. They are frustrated over their inability to make a dent into his following and hence, they have unleashed all agencies against his family and people close to him so that RJD supporters get demoralised," she alleged.