The CBI on Thursday searched houses of nine legislators, along with three close aides of the accused MlAs and MPs, in connection with the cash-for-vote scam of 2010 Rajya Sabha polls.
As many as 40 teams were involved in the searches across 22 locations in Ranchi, Chatra, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Jamshedpur and Godda districts.
Sources in the CBI revealed that the raids were conducted at the houses of MlA Vishnu Bhaiya of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha at Ranchi; Suresh Paswan of RJD in Ranchi; Sanjay Yadav of RJD in Godda; Saurabh Narayan Singh of Congress in Hazaribagh; Annapurna Devi of RJD in Koderma and the Chatra and Ranchi residences of Chatra MlA from RJD, Janardan Paswan.
“A thorough search was also conducted at houses of Tilak Ajmani, Pawan Singh and others associated to one politician or another, accused in the 2010 horse-trading scam,” said the official, requesting anonymity. Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh’s close aide Mukesh Rai’s house in Jamshedpur was also searched by CBI sleuths, who seized a laptop and a hard disk. “We will scan the content and only then come to a conclusion,” said an official.
The cash-for-vote case of 2010 was referred to the CBI — after earlier being investigated by the State Vigilance Bureau — following a Jharkhand High Court directive while hearing a PIl filed by an anti-corruption activist Durga Oraon.
The team from Ranchi conducted raids at the quarters on Road Number 8, which is in the name of Rajesh Rai, a Tata Motors employee and younger brother of Mukesh Rai. The CBI team, however, remained tight-lipped.
Meanwhile, Mukesh Rai denied any involvement in the scam and said he has nothing to hide. “I will cooperate. I have no association with KD Singh since 2011,” he added.
Mukesh Rai was local representative of Alchemist Group chairman KD Singh in 2010. Singh and Dheeraj Sahu were elected on JMM and Congress tickets, respectively, while Ajay Maroo, fielded by BJP, had lost in the 2010 election.
The 2010 Rajya Sabha horse-trading case is presently under the scanner of the Jharkhand High Court. The court had earlier expressed displeasure over the slow pace of investigation.
CBI is also investigating the 2012 Rajya Sabha cash-for-vote case, which was countermanded after an amount of Rs 2.5 crore was recovered from a vehicle allegedly belonging to an independent candidate.
A news channel aired videos of six MlAs negotiating for money to vote in favour of a particular candidate soon after the polls in 2010. They were from different parties. After much hue and cry, an FIR was lodged.