Lalu Prasad Yadav appears before CBI in connection with hotels-for-land scam

RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav arrives at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. (Source: ANI)

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav appeared before the CBI for questioning on Thursday in connection with the hotels-for-land scam. The central agency has accused Lalu of having “rigged and manipulated the tender process” while awarding contracts to two IRCTC hotels when he was Railways minister in 2006 under the UPA I government.

The CBI, in its FIR, accused Lalu of leasing two railway-run hotels, BNR Puri and BNR Ranchi, to a private firm, Sujata Hotels. In return, the directors of Sujata Hotels transferred three acres of “high-value premium land” to a shell company, Delight, which had links to Lalu’s family.

The CBI had filed corruption charges against Lalu, his wife Rabri and son Tejashwi in July this year after raiding 12 properties in connection with them, including the RJD leader’s residences in Delhi, Patna, Ranchi, Puri and Gurgaon.

The CBI also booked former Managing Director, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) P K Goel, Sujata, wife of Yadav’s confidante Prem Chand Gupta and two directors of a private company, among others, in connection with the case.

Describing the raids as a “witch-hunt”, Lalu had denied any wrongdoing. He had said, “Whatever property my family has, it is very much in the public domain.” He described the cases as being the result of “the politics of vendetta being played by the BJP”, adding that the RJD will not be “cowed down.”

(With inputs from agencies)