Land-for-jobs case: ED questions Bihar Dy CM Tejashwi Yadav for over 8 hours

On March 25, his sister Misa Bharti was questioned by the ED and he was questioned by the CBI in this case.

In May last year, the CBI had booked former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad and his family members in a fresh case of corruption. It had named 16 people, including Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, as accused in the case. According to the CBI, at least eight people were given Group-D jobs in the Railways in lieu of plots of land when Lalu was the Railways Minister in the UPA-I government at the Centre (2004-09). Lalu and his family allegedly acquired over 1 lakh sq ft of land for Rs 26 lakh, when the then cumulative market value was over Rs 4.39 crore.

The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from the CBI probe into allegations that people were given employment in the Railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family and associates.

Both the central agencies recently initiated action in the case, with the CBI questioning Lalu and Rabri and the ED carrying out raids against the RJD chief’s family. The ED, after the searches, said it seized unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore and detected proceeds of crime worth Rs 600 crore. The investigation was underway to unearth more investments made on behalf of Lalu’s family and their associates in various sectors, including real estate, at various places.