Srijan scam: IT raids Sushil Modi's cousin; Tejashwi says Dy CM main 'conspirator'

The residence of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi's cousin was on Thursday raided by the Income Tax department in connection with the Srijan scam, giving another opportunity to RJD's Tejashwi Yadav to hit out at the BJP leader alleging he was the man behind the multi-crore swindle.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. PTI Photo

PATNA: The residence of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi's cousin was on Thursday raided by the Income Tax department in connection with the Srijan scam, giving another opportunity to RJD's Tejashwi Yadav to hit out at the BJP leader alleging he was the man behind the multi-crore swindle. I-T sleuths were accompanied by police personnel during the raid at Rekha Modi's S P Verma Road house in Patna Thursday afternoon. According to PTI, searches were also conducted at some places in Bhagalpur, where crores of rupees were fraudulently withdrawn from the treasury and transferred to the account of Srijan NGO. The CBI is probing the alleged Rs. 2,500 crore scam. Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the leader of the Opposition in Bihar assembly, has unleashed his attack on Modi saying he is the main architect of the scam. "After my revelations in the Srijan scam, the house of Sushil Modi's sister was raided by the I-T department to save Sushil Modi, who was the real culprit. During his tenure as Bihar finance minster, Rs. 2,500 crore was looted from the financial budget," Tejashwi said in a tweet. "Modi, from the account of the Srjan NGO, had transferred crores to his sister's account," he added. Terming the raids as "eyewash", Tejashwi, former Bihar deputy chief minister, said to cover up Modi's involvement in the scam searches were conducted at his cousin's residence. The Srijan scam involves Bhagalpur-based NGO Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Ltd, which used to provide vocational training to women. The NGO allegedly pilfered funds meant for government welfare schemes from the bank accounts of the Bhagalpur district administration. Nitish Kumar had on August 18, 2017 recommended a CBI probe into the scam after RJD chief Lalu Prasad accused him of "murdering democracy" in Bihar. In August last year, the CBI registered 10 cases related to the scam and filed four fresh cases in June this year. Opposition parties in Bihar have been alleging that Rekha Modi, a social activist, was involved in the scam. Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra and RJD MLA Bhai Virendra have termed the action as delayed and demanded that the deputy chief minister resign from his post. Their contention is that he himself is in the habit of demanding resignations whenever the name of someone even remotely related to a political opponent crops up in a scandal.