On Saturday, 10th November, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Amit Katyal, a promoter of AK Infosystems, in the land-for-railway jobs scam case during the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav as Union Railway Minister. Amit Katyal is alleged to be a close associate of RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejashwi Yadav. Both the father-son duo are accused in the land-for-jobs scam.
Amit Katyal’s company, according to the investigation agency, was implicated in money laundering in the land-for-job scam. In conjunction with the matter, the anti-money laundering agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been investigating the company, AK Infosystem. The company is alleged to be a “beneficiary’ in the scam.
Katyal had already received repeated summonses from the agency, and officials said he had been evading them for almost two months.
According to the ED, Katyal’s premises in Delhi’s New Friends Colony were declared as an AK Infosystem office but are being used as a residence by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
According to media reports, the Delhi High Court recently refused Katyal’s request to cancel the ED summons in this matter. In March, the ED raided Katyal’s home, as well as those of Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav and others.
“The property has been though, on paper declared as office of M/s A B Exports Private Limited and M/s AK Infosystem Pvt ltd, it is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejasvi Prasad Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav,” the ED said.
In July this year, ED seized assets of AK Infosystem and another company linked to the Yadav family.
Land for jobs scam
It may be recalled that the CBI initiated a preliminary enquiry in September 2021 into the charges that when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister during UPA 1, he obtained benefits in the form of the transfer of property in the names of his family members in exchange for the appointments of substitutes in Group “D” posts in various Railway zones. CBI had found that a number of residents of Patna obtained jobs in the Railways in different zones in the country after they had gifted, or sold at very low prices, lands in Patna, Delhi and other places, to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family or to a company controlled by the family. AK Infosystems Private Limited is alleged to be one such company.
The ED case, which was brought under the criminal provisions of the PMLA, stems from the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). According to the CBI, there was no advertisement or public notice for the employment issued, but certain Patna residents were employed as substitutes in various zonal railways in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hazipur.
