The Income Tax Department has issued summons to Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti — the daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav — and her husband, in connection with its probe into a ₹1,000-crore alleged benami land deals and a tax evasion case.
The development followed the arrest of chartered acountant Rajesh Kumar Agrawal by the Enforcement Directorate on May 22. Agrawal is alleged to have aided in llegal transactions involving Lalu’s kin.
Officials said the department has asked Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar to appear before the investigating officer (IO) here in the first week of June.
The RJD chief, however, sought to put up a brave face after the raids, saying he was “not scared at all” and will continue to fight against “fascist forces”.
“BJP mein himmat nahi hai ki Lalu ki awaz ko daba sake...Lalu ki awaz dabayenge to desh bhar me karoron Lalu khare ho jayenge...Main gidarbhabhki se nahi darne wala hoon (BJP does not have the courage to stifle my voice... If it tries to silence one Lalu, crores of Lalu will come forward. I am not scared of empty threats),” he had said in a series of tweets after the search operation.
The BJP had also accused Prasad, Bharti and her brothers Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, both Bihar ministers, of being involved in corrupt land deals worth over ₹1,000 crore, and asked the Centre to probe one such transaction in Delhi.