Builder ex-RJD MLA Lalu aide: Abu Dojana faces heat from central agencies
A Patna-based builder, Syed Abu Dojana had twice made unsuccessful attempts to get elected from Sitamarhi when he caught Lalu Prasads eye before the 2015 Assembly elections. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief fielded Dojana from the Sursand Assembly constituency in Sitamarhi that year and the 57-year-old got elected to the Assembly, kickstarting his political career. Now, the former MLA is in trouble as he is under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which conducted searches at premises linked to him in Patna last Friday in connection with the IRCTC scam. The probe is related to the award of two Railways hotels to a private company in 2006 during Lalus tenure as the Railways Minister. In 2017, Dojana began the construction of Bihar's biggest mall along Patnas lifeline Bailey Road in Danapur. That plot of land is in ED control because it originally belonged to the owner of the hotels. Though Dojana is a Patna resident he has a two-storey house in Phulwari Sharif his election from Sursand was possible in 2015 because at the time the RJD and the Janata Dal (United) were on the same side and the social combination of the two parties made the victory possible. Often labelled an outsider in his constituency, the MLA built a home in Sursand after entering the Assembly. After a three-acre plot in Danapur was transferred to a company in which Lalu's family members were directors and stakeholders, the RJD chief entrusted the builder MLA to construct a mall on the land. Dojana's company, Meridian Construction (India) Limited, put up a huge hoarding calling the proposed mall Bihar's biggest. After BJP leader and former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi went after the RJD chief and alleged in a series of press conferences that Lalu's family members were part of several shell companies that owned the mall plot. CBI raids on Lalu's family followed and the IRCTC case was filed. With the CBI, and later the ED and Income-Tax departments, intensifying searches and raids, Dojana's chance at becoming a big builder ground to a halt. In December 2017, the ED seized the land in Danapur. Dojana also suffered a political setback when he lost the Sursand seat to the JD(U) in 2020. His election affidavit that year says that his moveable and immovable assets are worth Rs 7.5 crore, as compared to the Rs 3.5 crore shown in the 2015 election affidavit a rise of Rs 4 crore in five years. Besides being the director of Meridian Construction, Dojana is the director of Meridian Cotex Private Limited, Patna. A Bachelor in Engineering from Maulana Azad College in Patna, he now finds himself at crossroads, both as a builder and a politician. During last weeks raids at his Phulwari Sharif house and his Patna office on S P Verma Road, Dojana stood his ground, claiming, This is nothing but a political matter.
Monday, March 13, 2023 at 4:13 am