The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at multiple locations linked to Sanjeev Hans, Principal Secretary of Energy department, and former MLA Gulab Yadav in alleged disproportionate assets case.
Searches which started on July 16 continued till July 17 evening at around 20 locations in Patna, Madhubani, Pune, Delhi, Amritsar and Chandigarh. Fifteen watches, including luxury ones like Rado, Rolex etc and gold jewellery around 1,100 grams have been seized from the premises of Mr. Hans and incriminating documents containing details of payments for corruption have been found and seized.
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ED sources said raids were also conducted at the residence of Mr. Hans and office. He also holds the post of Chairman and Managing Director of the Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited.
The ED team raided several locations linked to Mr. Yadav and Mr. Hans. The other items which have been seized include a memory card, pen drive, and a computer hard disk.
The raids were conducted for nearly 26 hours in which the ED seized a bank passbook, a locker, jewellery and documents related to land purchase from the location linked to Mr. Yadav in Madhubani, whereas a bank passbook and documents related to transfer postings were seized by the ED from the locations linked to Mr. Hans.
Sexual exploitation plaint
The 1997 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer is close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The ED visited his office at Vidyut Bhavan and also his residence located at electricity board colony in the Shastrinagar area.
On the basis of a complaint received and the First Information Report (FIR) No. 18/2023 dated 09.01.2023 of Rupaspur police station, Patna, the ED initiated investigation against Mr. Hans and Mr. Yadav and their associates in respect of sexual exploitation of a woman lawyer and for their indulgence in corruption and other activities related with the offence of money laundering.
In January 2023, an FIR was lodged at the Rupaspur police station in Patna against both of them. Initially, the woman had to run from pillar to post to lodge the complaint as the police were not registering her case. However, on the order of the Danapur court, the police had finally lodged the FIR.
Sought DNA test
The case is still going on in the court. In the FIR, the victim had alleged that she was raped by both Mr. Yadav and Mr. Hans at a hotel in Pune in 2017. She had also accused them of blackmailing and threatening to kill her if she opened her mouth. She was also threatened to abort the child, but she gave birth in 2018 and had also sought a DNA test to determine the biological father.
During the raids, the ED also questioned MLC Ambika Yadav and Bindu Yadav, wife and daughter of Mr. Gulab Yadav who had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election on the BSP ticket but lost.
Mr. Gulab Yadav was Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA from 2015 to 2020. However, in 2022, he was suspended from the party for six years for indulging in anti-party activities.
Repeated attempts by The Hindu to reach out to both of them turned futile.
Published - July 17, 2024 02:06 pm IST
