May 25: The BJP today released a report purportedly filed by the Enforcement Directorate which states that Union minister Premchand Gupta, a close aide of Laloo Prasad Yadav, was allegedly involved in siphoning money robbed from the state treasuries out of the country.

Jharkhand BJP leader Saryu Rai alleged in Ranchi that Laloo Prasad was a party to the money laundering process started by Gupta and others accused in the scam who, he said, did everything for the benefit of their “mentor”.

Rai demanded the immediate sacking of Laloo Prasad, now the railway minister, and Gupta, who has got independent charge of company affairs.

Laloo Prasad scoffed at the allegations, saying the BJP was raking up these issues as it had nothing much to do.

“The BJP has always been making false allegations against me. Let the courts decide what is the truth,” the RJD leader said over phone from Delhi. He refused to comment on the points raised by Rai as the matter was sub-judice.

In Delhi, the BJP has fielded former law minister Arun Jaitley and former information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to question the propriety of inducting MPs with criminal records into the cabinet.

“The Prime Minister is an honourable man and this practice of including in his ministry persons having criminal background is not in keeping with his stature,” Jaitley said.

But the party did not demand that the Prime Minister drop the “tainted” ministers, probably leaving it for a later stage to keep the issue alive.

The BJP released a list of criminal cases pending against Laloo Prasad and ministers of state Mohammad Taslimuddin and Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav. The party referred to a police report to allege that minister of state M.A. Fatimi was patronising the gang of Fazlur Rehman, who was a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim.