Patna, April 9: RJD chief Lalu Prasad today said his family owns the land on which a mall billed as Bihar's biggest is coming up in Patna and insisted there was nothing illegal about it, a claim BJP leader Sushil Modi scoffed at.

The BJP had on Friday shifted its attack from the dumping of soil in the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park to the mall being constructed near Saguna Mor, which Sushil said was being built for Rs 500 crore on a plot of land worth Rs 100 crore.

"Rabri Devi, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav are partners in the company (Lara Projects LLP, which owns the land on which the mall is coming up). They are shareholders," Lalu told reporters at his 10 Circular Road residence today. "My sons have given the details of their shares in the company in their affidavits and assets declarations; they also file I-T (income tax) returns every year. It is a conspiracy to malign my family's image."

However, there was no mention of Lara Projects LLP in the election affidavits and assets declarations by Tej Pratap and Tejashwi on either the Election Commission or state cabinet secretariat websites.

Asked if the family of a self-avowed leader of the backward classes building a mall sends a wrong message, Lalu said: "Every man wants his son to do business; you expect that they should wear torn clothes? What is wrong when my family members owned the company? It has been done legally. If I have land, why can't I use it commercially?

"It is a conspiracy; Sushil Modi has made false allegations against my family," Lalu said. "He does not have any work these days after facing humiliating defeat in the 2015 Assembly election. Earlier, Sushil Modi alleged dumping of soil in Patna zoo, however when nothing came out he shifted the attention to the mall. Sushil Modi has made a very ugly allegation against me that I had given railway hotels in lieu of land. You should ask this to the NDA government because the hotels were given on lease under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is their government; cancel the lease now."

Sushil had alleged that the mall land was transferred to Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd by a hotelier after Lalu as railway minister had "handed over" the railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri to the hotelier.

Delight Marketing was initially owned by RJD MP Prem Gupta and his family. On June 26, 2014, it incorporated as directors Lalu's sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi and his third daughter Chanda Yadav. In November 2016, it became Lara Projects Pvt Ltd and on February 14 this year it became Lara Projects LLP with Lalu's wife Rabri Devi, and sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi as directors.

At the news meet, five-term MP Prem Gupta said his company was not merged but transferred to Lara Projects Pvt Ltd, which later became Lara Projects LLP.

Asked why, Gupta said: "It was the decision of the board of directors that our company was unable to work, so they decided to transfer it. It was transferred as per rules and payment was made through cheque."

He did not reveal the value of the company or the cost at which he transferred the ownership to Lalu's family. He sidestepped questions on why the company was transferred to Lalu's family and not someone else.

According to Sushil, Lara Projects LLP has a capital contribution of Rs 4.002 lakh. Meridian Construction India Limited, a firm owned by Syed Abu Dojana, RJD MLA from Sursand in Sitamarhi, is building the 5-lakh-square-foot mall.

Soon after Lalu spoke to reporters, Sushil Modi briefed the media at his Polo Road residence.

"It took Lalu Prasad five days to break his silence, I want to thank him because he has accepted the allegation I levelled against him; how can a poor man's son become the owner of Rs 500 crore property after spending just Rs 4 lakh? This is a rags to riches story worthy of a film," Sushil quipped.

He also alleged it was a case of converting benaami assets into legal property.

"I will appeal to chief minister Nitish Kumar to crack down on benaami property and immediately sack Lalu's two minister sons for getting involved in such things," Sushil said. "They have not even declared these things in their assets declaration and election affidavits. Taking the moral responsibility, Nitish should order a probe."