A day after questioning his wife Rabri Devi, the CBI on Tuesday questioned former Railway Minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad for nearly five hours in two sessions in the land-for-jobs case.
The case relates to job aspirants allegedly getting employment in the Railways in lieu of land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Lalu family and its associates, officials said.
A team of five CBI officials arrived in two cars around 10.40 am at the residence of Misa Bharti at Pandara Park near India Gate where Lalu is currently residing, and left around 12.55 pm for lunch. The questioning resumed at 2.15 pm which continued till 5.15 pm, they said.
During the exercise, which was being videographed, the former Bihar CM was confronted with some documents in a room where he is quarantined post his kidney transplant surgery, they said. Last year, Lalu underwent a kidney transplant surgery in Singapore and returned to India a month back. His Singapore-based daughter Rohini Acharya took to Twitter to express her anguish over Lalu’s interrogation by the CBI.
“These people are harassing papa. If the harassment leads to any problem, we will rock the seat of power in Delhi. Patience is running out,” she tweeted.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the case against Lalu, his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and 14 others under charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and all the accused have been summoned by a court on March 15, officials said. In its FIR, the CBI has alleged that during Lalu’s tenure as Railway Minister from 2004-09, irregular candidate appointments were made in the Central Railways, violating the norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment.
No advertisement or public notice was issued for appointment but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur, it is alleged.
As an alleged quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to the family members of Lalu at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates.