I-T raid at Lalu’s close aide Abu

The Income Tax department on Wednesday conducted raids at the residences of Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Abu Dozana, a close associate of Lalu Prasad.

Dozana, the party legislator from Sursand in Sitamarhi, came into limelight last year when his company Meridian Construction India Pvt Ltd was found to be constructing Bihar’s biggest shopping mall on the Lalu-Rabri land in Patna.

This shopping mall, coming up on the outskirts of the state capital, was in the news as it was this land which was on the Enforcement Directorate’s radar while investigating the IRCTC scam, also known as the land-for-hotel scam.

The construction work on the mall has, meanwhile, stopped completely as the ED has seized the land. In the meantime, the Income Tax officials on Wednesday conducted raids at Dozana’s three residential and official premises in Patna, SP Verma Road, Dakbungalow Crossing and Phulwarisharif.

Though the details of the raids, which started on Wednesday afternoon, were not known till the time of reporting, sources said incriminating documents were found during search operations. “If required, the legislator may be summoned by I-T and ED officials for questioning,” the source said.

The matter is related to the IRCTC scam, which is likely to be heard in a Delhi court on October 6. The court has asked Lalu to be physically present during the hearing.

Lalu is one of the accused as during his stint as Railway Minister (2004-09), this land in Patna was transferred to his family members by industrialists Kochar brothers, who were awarded the contract of two railway hotels – one at Ranchi and the other at Puri in Odisha.