CBI charge sheet against Lalu Yadav, 15 others in alleged land-for-job scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against RJD leader and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharti, and 13 others in an alleged land-for-job scam during his tenure in the railways, sources said on Friday.

A former general manager of the railways, Soumya Raghavan, has also been named as an accused in the charge sheet filed before a special CBI court recently. Raghavan retired as financial commissioner of the railway board.

The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry on September 23, 2021, related to the alleged scam in the railways which was converted into an FIR on May 18.

The charge sheet reveals that the persons were engaged as substitutes in the railways in lieu of land either in their name or in the names of their close relatives. This land was acquired at rates lower than circle rates and much lower than market rates. The accused also includes seven candidates.

The land transfers were made through deeds in the name of Rabri Devi and daughters Bharti and Hema Yadav, the CBI alleged.

“Further, the candidates have used false transfer certificates and also submitted false attested documents to the ministry of railways,” the sources said.

The central agency has alleged that land measuring about 1.05 lakh square feet in Patna was acquired by Prasad's family members by making payments to the sellers in cash.

In July, the CBI arrested Prasad’s close aide Bhola Yadav in Delhi in connection with the alleged scam.

CBI also conducted searches at four premises — two each in Patna and Darbhanga (in Bihar) — belonging to Yadav, and recovered incriminating documents and a diary from his ancestral house. Yadav was the officer on special duty (OSD) to then railway minister Prasad between 2005 and 2009 during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Yadav’s role in the scam surfaced during his questioning, a CBI official had earlier said.