Cbi questions lalu in land for job scam case

Cbi questions lalu in land for job scam case

Move comes a day after his wife Rabri Devi’s statement was recorded in the case; probe agency team shows RJD leader some documents, seeks clarifications while the process was video-recorded; he had recently returned from Singapore after undergoing a kidney transplant surgery.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad for about two hours in connection with the land-for-job scam, a day after his wife Rabri Devi’s statement was recorded at her Patna residence in Bihar.

A team of five agency officials visited the Pandara Park residence of Misa Bharti, daughter of Mr. Prasad, where they showed him some documents and sought clarifications. The process was video recorded. Mr. Prasad had recently returned from Singapore after a kidney transplant.

On Monday, reacting to the CBI’s move, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav told presspersons: “Every month or two, these investigating agencies keep coming to our residence but we are not bothered as we have not done anything wrong. Why should we get perturbed?”

Based on its findings, in October 2022, the CBI filed a charge sheet against 16 accused. Among them were Mr. Prasad, Ms. Devi, Ms. Bharti, the then Railway General Manager Sowmya Raghvan and then Chief Personnel Officer Kamal Deep Mainrai. In January, the agency received prosecution sanction against Mr. Prasad from the competent authority.

Railway posts

Last May, the agency carried out searches in Delhi and Bihar after registering the case against Mr. Prasad, his wife and two daughters, Ms. Bharti and Hema Yadav, and 12 others, alleging that the appointment of several substitutes to the Railways’ Group-D posts were made in lieu of land parcels.

The case was Instituted on the basis of a preliminary inquiry initiated to examine the allegation that from 2004 to 2009, many ineligible candidates were appointed as substitutes. The beneficiaries were later regularised.

The CBI has alleged that no advertisement/public notice had been issued for the appointments; that the beneficiaries had not even properly addressed the applications to the departments concerned, but “undue haste was shown” in processing and approving them. Several residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in Mumbai, Kolkata, Jabalpur, Jaipur and Hajipur.

According to the agency, three sale deeds were executed in favour of Ms. Rabri Devi, one land was transferred to Ms. Bharti and another was shown on paper as sold to AK Infosystems, whose properties were taken over by Mr. Prasad’s wife and a daughter in 2014. Two other land parcels were initially given to Hridyanand Choudhary, a Gopalganj resident, and Lalan Choudhary from Siwan. They later executed gift deeds in favour of Ms. Hema Yadav.

The CBI alleged that about 1.05 lakh sq.ft of land in Patna was acquired by Mr. Prasad’s family members. The land parcels directly transferred to the family members were allegedly bought at prices ranging from ₹3.75 lakh to ₹13 lakh, lower than the then prevailing circle rates.