The Income Tax Department on Monday issued the final attachment order against Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Sailesh Kumar. The attachments include a farmhouse in South Delhi’s Bijwasan, a house in the Capital’s Defence Colony area and another property in Patna, News 18 reported.
On September 5, the Enforcement Directorate had attached the farmhouse in Bijwasan in connection with an investigation of a money laundering case against Bharti and her husband. The farmhouse, which is in the name of M/S Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited, had been attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. It was purchased using Rs 1.2 crore that had been laundered in 2008-09, the agency had said.
Bharti and Kumar are being investigated over allegations that they acquired benami ownership of land at subsidised rates. A benami property is one bought in a certain person’s name though the real beneficiary is someone else. In July, the agency had conducted raids at three properties in New Delhi that allegedly belong to the couple.
In May 2017, the Enforcement Directorate had arrested chartered accountant Rajesh Agarwal for his alleged involvement in the money laundering racket worth Rs 8,000 crore. Agarwal’s arrest was also connected to an investigation by the Income Tax Department into dubious land deals worth Rs 1,000-crore linked to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family.
In July, the Central Bureau of Investigation had registered a case against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi Yadav on allegations of corruption during his tenure as railway minister in 2006. The agency had raided more than 12 locations, including their houses in Delhi, Gurugram, Patna, Ranchi and Puri.
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