Within 48 hours of the RJD rally, the Income Tax department swung into action against party supremo and former CM Rabri Devi, son former Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and daughter Misa Bharti, a Rajya Sabha member. The I-T summoned Rabri, Tejashwi and Misa at its office and quizzed the trio for over eight hours.
The I-T team, which also included a deputy commissioner and other officials who came from Delhi, interrogated mostly Tejashwi for over eight hours who arrived at the office at 10.30 in the morning and Rabri and Misa arrived at 1.30 pm. The focus of the interrogation was on the benami properties apart from assets in their names. The team had an exhaustive questionnaire. The notice had also been served to lalu’s elder son and former Minister Tej Pratap Yadav but he submitted a medical report pleading he was having throat infection. Misa had recently been quizzed by I-T sleuths in Delhi only a few days back. She and her husband Shailesh were earlier quizzed a few times in Delhi.
The trio was interrogated separately and later on they were made to sit together and were asked various questions. In the papers of several properties Rabri and Tejashwi are listed as directors.
After staying in the I-T headquarters for over eight hours, Tejashwi came out in his vehicle at 6.15 pm. A visibly exhausted he was sitting in the front but refused to look at the media people. Showing no emotions while trying to wear a faint smile he did not roll down the window panes of the vehicle, he drove out and went straight to his residence. Rabri, accompanied by Misa, came out 25 minutes later and went away without saying a word.
Sources said the I-T had issued notice to lalu kin almost a fortnight back but the family sought time saying they were busy with their rally on August 27. The department again sent notice to them on Monday saying it was last time for them to answer on August 29.
The documents of several properties in the name of lalu family and benami assets had been highlighted by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, now Deputy CM, one by one and had claimed that Tejashwi at the age of 26 became owner of 26 huge properties in Delhi, Patna and other places in Bihar including the upcoming biggest mall of Bihar. Many of those properties had been gifted by RJD politicians when he was a kid.
After the FIR was instituted against Tejashwi, then Deputy CM, CM Nitish Kumar had privately asked him to explain his position publicly but he did not and on July 26 Nitish had resigned and got the support of BJP to retain the chair.