ED quizzes Rabri Devi, Tej Pratap in land-for-jobs case; summons Lalu
ED officials said a fresh round of questioning was planned as there were certain additional facts in the case that had to be verified
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and her son Tej Pratap Yadav while issuing summons to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav asking him to appear before it on Wednesday in its money laundering probe into the land-for-jobs case, which dates back to 2004-09 when Lalu was the Union railways minister, people familiar with the development said.
Even though Lalu and his family members have already been chargesheeted in the case, ED officials said a fresh round of questioning was planned as there were certain additional facts in the case that had to be verified.
A large number of RJD supporters reached the ED office in Patna on Tuesday and shouted slogans in favour of the Yadavs. Party spokesman Ejaz Ahmed said: “It is now obvious that the BJP unleashes central agencies on its opponents whenever it has to face an election in a state. We saw it in Jharkhand and Delhi. Now it is being seen in Bihar.”
The ED’s case stems from an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over malpractices in railway recruitment during 2004-09. It is alleged that appointment of substitutes in Group-D jobs was done by violating the recruitment norms and procedures of the Indian Railways. The candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to Lalu’s family members at discounted rates of up to one-fourth to one-fifth of prevailing market rates.
Both the agencies have filed several charge sheets in the case and have also obtained prosecution sanction against the RJD leader from the relevant authorities.
In its charge sheet filed in August under the prevention of money laundering act or PMLA, the ED has alleged that a company, AK Infosystems, was incorporated by Lalu through his close aide Amit Katyal with a purpose to hold several land parcels in Patna.
Once the land parcels were acquired, Katyal transferred 100% of shareholding of the company to Rabri Devi (85%) and Tejashwi Yadav (15%) on June 13, 2014, thereby making them the absolute owners of the land parcels held by the company.
“AK Infosystems, with all its underlying assets of a book value amount of ₹1.89 crore, was transferred to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav, against a meagre amount of ₹1 lakh. It is worthwhile to mention that the market value of the assets of AK Infosystems as on June 13, 2014, was ₹63 crore as per the valuation proceedings conducted by the ED,” the agency added.
The financial crimes probe agency claims to have found Bihar’s leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav’s link with another company, AB Exports Pvt Ltd (ABEPL), which is also controlled by Lalu’s family.
The ED says Tejashwi Yadav owns 98.25% stake in the company while his sister Chanda Yadav owns 1.75%.
It has alleged in the charge sheet that ABEPL purchased a residential property, a bungalow in New Friends Colony, in 2007 for ₹5 crore using optionally fully convertible debentures from five shell companies.
In a press statement in March 2023, the ED claimed that the present market value of this bungalow is ₹150 crore.
Apart from Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and Katyal, the ED has also named Lalu Prasad’s daughters, Hema Yadav and Misha Bharti, in the two charge sheets filed in the case so far.
The first charge sheet under PMLA was filed in January 2024, which stated that Lalu Prasad and his family members acquired separate land parcels from the candidates who were given jobs in the railways with a purpose to “consolidate” the land already owned by the family to increase the size of overall landholding and increase its desirability in the real estate market.
