Bihar govt asks ED to seize assets of Maoist leaders

Bihar government has urged the enforcement Directorate to confiscate properties of two Maoist leaders who have amassed illegal wealth to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore each.

The government has made the recommendation under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The two top Maoist leaders – Sandip Yadav and Pradyuman Sharma – have been charged with accumulating moveable and immoveable assets worth Rs 1.39 crore and 1.47 crore respectively. Some of the assets are in the name of their close relatives.

Both leaders claim they hold top positions in the Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee of their organization, with Yadav calling himself the Committee’s in-charge of central zone and Sharma the commander of Magadh zone comprising Jehanabad, Gaya, Aurangabad and Nawada.

A senior police officer said: “Yadav, a native of Gaya, was found to be leading a lavish life in an investigation by a top cop associated with anti-Maoist operations.”

“One of his sons studies in a premier engineering college and the younger ward is a student in a prominent Ranchi school,” he added.

His wife Rajyanti Devi -an untrained teacher in Gaya- draws regular salary at the school despite working infrequently, thanks to his influential position.

Yadav had bought around 2.6 decimal land at Chutia Hills in the outskirts of Ranchi and has an Rs 80 lakh worth house in Gaya.

His wife has Rs 15.6 lakh in four different bank accounts in her name.