CBI books Lalu, Rabri and their daughters in graft case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, two daughters and unknown public servants for allegedly taking land from 12 candidates in return for jobs in Railways during his stint as railway minister between 2004 and 2009.

Following the registration of a first information report (FIR) on May 18, the central agency carried out coordinated raids across 17 locations on Friday, including the residences of Lalu Yadav, his daughters – Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav – and named railway job candidates in Delhi, Patna and Gopalganj, officials said.

According to a CBI official familiar with the matter, Lalu and his family acquired a total of 105,292 square feet of land in Patna through seven deeds (five sale deeds and two gift deeds) at throwaway prices from 12 private individuals, in return for Group D jobs in six different railway zones. These individuals who bribed the former minister are among 16 people named in the case.

The Yadavs paid amounts ranging from ₹3 lakh to ₹13 lakh for seven parcels of land whose overall current value is ₹4.39 crore, the official said.

The agency had launched a preliminary enquiry (PE) – a precursor to the FIR – in the matter in September last year amid allegations that various persons were appointed as substitutes in Group D posts in different zones of Indian railways between 2004 and 2009, without following guidelines, in exchange of land by unknown public servants.

Group D refers to basic railway jobs with the lowest pay. The work involves maintenance of tracks, railway coaches, departments, stores etc and will depend on the post you get.

After eight months, an enquiry revealed that some individuals, although residents of Patna, were appointed as substitutes in Group D posts in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur zones in Railways. In return, these individuals and their family members transferred their land in the name of Lalu’s family members and a family company – AK Infosystems Pvt Limited, the FIR said.

The residents of Patna were appointed even as no advertisement or public notice was given for the jobs. Also, undue haste was shown in processing applications of certain candidates and surprisingly within three days from the date of receipt of applications, their appointments as substitutes were approved, the FIR said.

The private individuals who got jobs through Lalu’s reference transferred their lands ranging from 1,360 square feet to 80,905 square feet in different localities in Patna in the name of Lalu’s family members, the CBI alleged.

“Out of seven instances of land transfer, it is revealed that three sale deeds were executed in favour of Rabri Devi, one sale deed was executed in the name of Misa Bharti, one sale in favour of AK Infosystems Private Limited, in which later Rabri Devi became a major shareholder in 2014 and currently she is one of the Director of the Company. Two gift deeds were executed in favour of Hema Yadav,” the FIR said.

In most cases of land transfer, payment to sellers was shown to be carried out in cash, the FIR added. “The current value of above said seven parcels of land including the land acquired through gift deeds as per existing circle rate is about ₹43,980,650.”

Heavy deployment of police was seen outside Rabri Devi’s 10 Circular Road residence in Patna as teams of CBI sleuths arrived at the spot at around 6.30 am on Friday. The searches were held till 8.30 pm.

The agency also raided 10 houses of suspected job beneficiaries in Mahuabagh under Rupuspur police station in Patna, Lalu’s relatives in Gopalanj and his native village in Phulwaria. The raids in Gopalganj continued for over four hours, during which the agency also searched the house of Lalu’s distant relative, Hirdayanad Choudhary, in Itawah village under Uchkagaon police station.

“Two separate CBI teams are quizzing Rabri Devi and her son and MLA Tej Pratap Yadav at her residence. Three separate teams have been made for the interrogation,” a second CBI official said, seeking anonymity. Tej Pratap has not been named in the FIR.

The CBI also searched the house of one Kundan Kumar, whose brother works in the Railways, in Mahuabagh.

“More than 15-20 CBI officers arrived at around 5.30 am in 15 vehicles and raided the house. We cooperated with them. However, they did not find anything. They made us sign on a paper saying that they did not disturb us and did not cause any damage during the raid,” he alleged.

“My brother Pintu Kumar got a job in the Railways on the basis of merit. A few months ago, the CBI had summoned my brother who visited their office in Delhi to clarify that he had nothing to do with the case. Now they are searching our house. We are being made a scapegoat for no reason,” Kundan said.

Shortly after the raids at the former chief’s residence in Patna, RJD leaders and workers protested against the action.

The party termed the CBI as a “caged parrot” – a reference to Supreme Court’s comment in 2013 in the coal block allocation fraud case that the agency speaks in its “master’s voice” – and said the former Bihar chief minister’s family will not be intimidated.

“Same Lalu Ji who gave a profit of ₹90,000 crores to the Railways, same Lalu Ji who opened jobs in Railways for lakhs of youth, who made the porters’ permanent… same Lalu is being raided after 15 years,” the party tweeted, adding that (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had sold the Railways, including stations.

RJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha said he was not surprised by the CBI action. The CBI case is like a ‘dead bird’ which has been given a new life as RJD leader and Lalu’s son, Tejashwi Yadav, continues to rally masses over real issues such as unemployment and caste census, he said.

“So, they (Bharatiya Janata Party) have sent the parrot to (Lalu’s) house,” he added.

The BJP, which rules the Centre and shares power in the state, rejected the opposition party’s charge and said the CBI was working in accordance with the mandate it enjoyed as an “independent agency”.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said the issue was raised by him in 2017.

“It was first brought to the notice of then prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 by Shivanand Tiwary (current national RJD vice-president) and Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh [current JD(U) national president] who handed over a memorandum highlighting the matter. In 2017, I highlighted the issue through a book named Lalu Leela,” he said.

Former Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Chirag Paswan, who has been struggling to find his feet since the demise of his father Ram Vilas Paswan, an old associate of Lalu Prasad, seemed to be in no mood to get embroiled in a controversy.

“The CBI has its own way of functioning. I do not want to raise a question on the timing of the fresh case, which has been filed 13 years after Prasad ceased to be a railway minister. I wish to add, though, that there is no need to be scared. If they are not in the wrong, they will suffer no harm,” he said.

The CBI’s action came four weeks after Lalu was granted bail by Jharkhand high court on April 22 in a corruption case related to alleged fraudulent withdrawals from Doranda treasury in Ranchi.

The 73-year-old, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison and slapped with a total penalty of ₹60 lakh, had already secured bail in four cases related to Jharkhand’s Dumka, Deoghar, and Chaibasa treasuries. A sixth and final case, pertaining to fraudulent withdrawals from Banka treasury in Bihar, is still under trial. (Vijay, please check)

Soon after securing bail last month, the former chief minister was admitted to Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment, which delayed his return to Patna.

Lalu, his wife and son Tejashwi are also facing trial in another corruption case related to Railways. They have been accused of receiving a premium land in Patna as ‘kickback’ for handing out a maintenance contract for two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation or IRCTC hotels to a private company.