In ED net, Lalu confidant who rose from property dealer to sand mining baron: Who is Subhash Yadav?

A close aide of Lalu Prasad, Subhash Yadav, the Patna-based businessman who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a sand mining case, has been associated with the RJD chief since early 1990s.

The ED arrested Subhash Saturday as part of its money laundering investigations into Bihar’s alleged sand mining scam. During its raids at his premises, the central agency seized “unexplained” Rs 2.37 crore in cash and several digital devices including pen drives, mobile phones and laptops containing “incriminating data”. He has been sent to judicial custody till March 22.

Subhash, 52, a resident of Hetan village in Patna’s Shahpur area, started off as a small-time property dealer who rose quickly to become a big sand businessman with significant political clout.

The son of a farmer in the Ganga riverine belt of Danapur near Patna, Subhash has a BSc degree.

He first got close to a relative of Lalu in 1990s and went on to become one of the confidants of the RJD supremo who was then the Bihar chief minister.

Subsequently, Subhash’s sand mining operation saw a rapid growth even as he later formed a company, Broadson Commodities Pvt Ltd (BCPL), to run his business. In the state’s political circles, he has been known as one of the key financiers of the RJD.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the RJD fielded Subhash from Jharkhand’s Chatra seat that he lost. In his 2019 election affidavit, he declared assets worth Rs 5 crore.

The ED’s probe was said to have found that Subhash had purchased three flats in Patna from Lalu’s wife and former CM Rabri Devi for Rs 1.72 crore.

According to the ED, the BCPL had been involved in “illegal sand mining and selling of sand without using the departmental pre-paid transportation e-challan, issued