Lalu’s brother-in-law booked for land grab, extortion

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s brother-in-law and former Rajya Sabha member Subhash Yadav was booked along with seven others on the charges of land grabbing, cheating, extortion, intimidation and other offences on Saturday, Patna police said.

The FIR (first information report) against Yadav and others was lodged on the complaint of one Bhim Verma, a resident of Bela village in rural Patna, police said.

Those named in the FIR include Subhash Yadav, his wife Renu Devi, son Randhir Kumar.

Pramod Kumar, Bihta police station house officer (SHO), said the case is being investigated by Prabha Kumari, in-charge of Neora police outpost.

According to the FIR, Subhash Yadav had purchased a plot of land measuring seven katthas in the name of his wife after paying ₹96 lakh to Bhim’s mother Meena Devi. On February 27, 2021, the former MP called him along with his mother and brother at his house and forced them to return ₹60 lakh. “The former MP took my mother and brother hostage and threatened me of dire consequences if I failed to return the amount. I was told that if I returned his money, Subhash will transfer my plot back into my name. I returned the money the same day, but he did not return the land,” Bhim Verma has stated in the FIR, according to police.

Verma told HT that earlier his father had entered into an agreement with one Arun Kumar Munsi alias Mukhiya to sell the plot of land.

In June 2022, Arun Kumar Munsi, who also acted as a middleman in the land deal with Yadav, allegedly attacked Bhim’s house and thrashed his mother and father when they refused to return the remaining ₹30 lakh, the complainant said.

A police team reached the spot and caught Munsi but the family refused to lodged an FIR against him.

Verma visited Mukhya Mantri Janta Darbar on June 6, 2022, where chief minister Nitish Kumar directed the Patna district magistrate (DM) to probe the incident.

On May 4 this year, Verma met Patna DM Dr Chandrasekhar Singh who spoke to Patna SSP Rajiv Mishra. “The FIR was registered after intervention of Patna DM and SSP,” said Verma.

Subhash Yadav was not available for comment.

This is not the first case against Yadav, who was a notorious figure during the Lalu-Rabri rule in Bihar.

He accused of forcing the Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express to change its platform at Patna junction where he was waiting for the train during Lalu Prasad’s stint as the railway minister.

On May 10, 2010, a Bihar court had ordered an FIR against Yadav, his wife Renu Devi and three others with a police station in Patna on the charges of kidnapping a liquor shop employee.