ED issues fresh summons to Lalu, son Tejashwi in land-for-jobs case

“The father and son have been asked to depose at the ED’s office on Bank Road in Patna. While Lalu has been asked to appear before the ED on January 29, Tejashwi has been called the next day,” said a source, requesting anonymity. Earlier, the duo skipped ED summons, in New Delhi, in this case. Tejashwi, however, appeared before the agency regarding this case once, in New Delhi last year.

The ED decided to summon them following the questioning of Amit Katyal, an alleged close associate of the Lalu Prasad family, who was arrested by the central agency in November 2023. The ED case — filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) — stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that people were given employment in the railways, when Lalu was the railway minister, in return for land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Lalu Prasad family and its associates.

According to ED officials, Rabri and daughter Hema Yadav separately received two land parcels each from candidates who got railway jobs. These land parcels were bought at a price of just Rs 7.5 lakh and then allegedly sold to M/s Meridian Constructions India Ltd — a company run by Abu Dojana — for Rs 3.5 crore.

The CBI filed a chargesheet against Lalu and Rabri — who were questioned recently, and 14 others under charges of criminal conspiracy and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. All of them have been summoned on March 15.