Probe agency summons Bihar Deputy CM Yejashwi Yadav, father Lalu Yadav in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a fresh summons to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in connection with the alleged railways land-for-jobs money laundering case. 

The federal probe agency has asked the father-son duo to appear before it for questioning at its Patna office, sources said, adding that while Lalu Prasad has been asked to appear on January 29, Tejashwi is called the next day, on January 30.

Both the politicians have been asked to depose at the Enforcement Directorate office on Bank Road in Patna. Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi had skipped previous summons issued by the probe agency.

The fresh summons comes days after the probe agency filed its first chargesheet in the case. The recent summons was delivered at the official residence of Lalu Prasad wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

The alleged scam pertains to the period when Lalu Yadav was the Railway Minister in the Congress-led UPA-1 government. According to the probe agency, several people were appointed to Group "D" positions in various zones of the Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009.

These people, instead, transferred their land to the family members of Lalu Yadav and a linked company named AK Infosystems Private Limited.

In its chargesheet, the Enforcement Directorate has claimed that AK Infosystems is allegedly a "beneficiary company" in the case and its registered address in south Delhi's New Friends Colony was being used by Tejashwi Yadav.

The money laundering case, filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a complaint lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi were granted bail by a trial court in October last year in the CBI case.

Earlier, Rabri Devi (68), RJD Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti (47), and two other daughters of Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi -- Chanda Yadav and Ragini Yadav -- have been questioned in the case.