The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided several premises related to 1997-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer Sanjeev Hans, former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Gulab Yadav and their associates on Tuesday in connection with a case registered under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The raids, which began early morning, were spread across Bihar, Maharashtra and Delhi and were going on at the time of filing the report. The places where ED sleuths visited along with security cover provided by CRPF personnel are in Patna, Jhanjharpur, Madhubani, Pune and Delhi.

Sanjeev is at present serving as the principal secretary of the energy department
and the chairman-cum-managing director of the Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited.

Gulab was an RJD MLA from Jhanjharpur from 2015 to 2020. He contested the recent Lok Sabha election from the Jhanjharpur constituency from a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket because the seat was allocated to Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP), which was a part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). His wife Ambika Gulab Yadav is an MLC, while his daughter Bindu Gulab Yadav is the chairperson of the Madhubani district board.

While Gulab was not found at his residence in Patna, the ED sleuths questioned his wife and daughter. Sanjeev was present at his residence in Patna when the raids commenced and he was being quizzed.

Both the accused are considered close friends. They could not be reached despite several phone calls by this newspaper.

Though Sanjeev and Gulab, both have faced multiple allegations of corruption and illegal activities, sources said that the current ED raid is the fallout of a case of alleged gang rape registered by an Allahabad High Court lawyer.

The ED did not issue any statement on the raids but a source said that it “entered the picture after the gang rape case and started investigating them from the angle of money laundering”.

A woman registered an FIR against the duo at the Rupaspur police station on the outskirts of Patna in January last year, alleging that the two had gang-raped her several times between 2016 and 2019.

The advocate had to run from pillar to post to register the FIR against the two, but her complaint was not entertained. She then moved court, which gave directions to the police to register the case.

The FIR had imposed IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 313 (causing miscarriage without a woman’s consent), 120b (criminal conspiracy), 504 (intentional insult to provoke and cause breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and section 67 of the IT Act.

The FIR had imposed IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 313 (causing miscarriage without a woman’s consent), 120b (criminal conspiracy), 504 (intentional insult to provoke and cause breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and section 67 of the IT Act.

The advocate had alleged repeated gang rape, blackmail through its videos, threat to kill and being forced to undergo an abortion. She gave birth to a child after becoming pregnant again. She has also sought a DNA test to determine the biological father of the child.

She said in the FIR that she came in touch with Yadav while visiting Patna in 2016 and was allegedly lured to his residence with an offer to help her become a member of Bihar state women’s commission. She was raped at gunpoint at his house.

Hans allegedly raped her during her visit to meet Yadav in a Pune hotel. Both the accused raped her on several occasions in Delhi hotels and other places.