LTC scam: CBI files case against 6 Rajya Sabha MPs

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday registered a case against three sitting Rajya Sabha MPs and three former members on charges of cheating and forgery in the Leave and Travel Concession (LTC) scam.  The present and former Rajya Sabha MPs have been booked under sections 420 and 13 (1)D. Searches are currently underway at the premises of the MPs. The sitting MPs are D Bandopadhyay (TMC), Brijesh Pathak (BSP), Lal Ming Liana (MPF) while the former MPs are JPN Singh (BJP), Renu Bala (BJD), Mehmood A Madni (RLD). The CBI had prima facie found “criminality” by senior officials of Rajya Sabha Secretariat and some Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in claiming LTC. The agency, in its preliminary enquiry, had questioned several travel agents where an alleged nexus between officials of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and several PSUs was revealed, the sources said. Lakhs of rupees are said to have been fraudulently claimed from the government through fake LTC claims, availed by government officials to get concessional tickets. The incident had come to light after the vigilance department of Air India (AI) was alerted about the arrest of a man in March at Kolkata airport with 600 blank boarding passes of the airline. Suspecting alleged criminal nexus between air travel agents and government employees, Air India got in touch with CVC which then asked CBI to look into the matter. With PTI inputs