The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) general secretary Subhash Yadav on Saturday night after allegedly recovering Rs 2.3 crore in
cash and several documents related to possession of immovable assets.

The RJD condemned the move, alleging tactics to cow down the Opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Subhash was produced before a judicial magistrate on Sunday and forwarded to jail. He could be produced before the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court, also known as ED court, on Monday.

The ED action came following a 14-hour raid on six residential and official premises connected to Subhash, who is considered close to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family and is said to be one of the “financiers” of the party.

The raids were conducted for a money-laundering case registered against Subhash following Bihar police’s FIRs in connection with illegal sand mining.

He had contested the Lok Sabha elections on the party ticket from Chatra in Jharkhand in 2019.

“The money laundering case is based on around 20 FIRs registered by the Bihar police against a company called Broadsons Commodities Pvt. Ltd. (BCPL) and its directors, for alleged illegal sand mining in the state. The sand was disposed of without the use of e-challans mandatory for selling it,” an ED source told The Telegraph.

The agency had arrested MLC (member of the Legislative Council) Radha Charan Sah, his son Kanhaiya Prasad and Broadsons’ directors Mithilesh Kumar Singh, Baban Singh and Surendra Kumar Jindal in the case. They are still in judicial custody. A chargesheet was filed against them in November 2023.

The agency officials have alleged that the illegal sand trade was controlled by a syndicate that invested funds in Broadsons Commodities and earned profit to the tune of Rs 161 crore.

The RJD leaders asserted that Subhash was arrested because the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were afraid of Mahagathbandhan’s rising power, especially in light of its successful rally in Patna on March 3.

“Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have understood that Bihar was supporting our leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, therefore the Opposition leaders are being harassed. Shah came to Patna and said in a rally that people would be hanged upside down and straightened. The people of the state will give a befitting reply to them and their tactics,” RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav said.