Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids at his residence was a conspiracy against him and the Modi government was using the CBI against the opposition.

“No wrong was done in the tendering. This is a BJP conspiracy. Me and my party will not be cowed down with the raids,” Lalu said.

He said he is not afraid of the BJP and is ready for any probe by the CBI.

“The raids were done to insult and humiliate me. The ruling party wants to strike down the opposition by sending CBI, IT departments, by incarcerating anyone who speaks out against them,” Lalu said, adding, “The CBI has not found any documents relating to the alleged irregularities.”

“Before my time as Union minister, the Central Government had taken this decision (to allow tenders). The tender file does not come to the minister. In 2006, for some hotels which were in bad shape, the IRCTC had put out open tenders for giving them on lease for 15 years. It was not an absolute sale,” he said.

The CBI on Friday morning conducted raids at 12 locations, including residences of Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and their son Tejashwi Yadav.

The central agency has also filed a case against them alleging corruption during Lalu’s time in office as Union Railways minister in 2006.

Meanwhile, the BJP has welcomed CBI raids. "It is the right time for (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar to end his party JD-U's alliance with the RJD and should sack Lalu's two sons from his cabinet without delay,” Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bihar president Nityanand Rai was quoted as saying by a news agency.

The CBI has registered the case against Lalu; his wife Rabri Devi; Tejaswi Yadav; former Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Managing Director PK Goyal; and; Sujata, the wife of Lalu's confidante Prem Chand Gupta, on allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006.

On May 16, the CBI also carried out searches at 22 places in and around Delhi in connection with the alleged ‘benami’ property deals of Lalu Yadav.