Tejashwi Yadav, son of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad, on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe in the railway hotels allotment corruption case, official sources said.
The statement of the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister was recorded by the investigating officer of the case after he arrived at the ED office in New Delhi , slightly after 11 a.m.
This is the second time Mr. Tejashwi is being questioned by the central agency in this case. He was last questioned by the ED on October 10 for over nine hours.
Had skipped four appearances
Since then, Mr. Tejashwi has skipped four appearances. He appeared on Monday as part of a fresh summons, they said.
The ED registered a case against Mr. Prasad, his family members and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) sometime ago. Mr. Tejashwi’s mother and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri has skipped the ED summons at least six times till now.
In July, the CBI registered an FIR and conducted multiple searches on the properties of Mr. Prasad, who is also a former Bihar Chief Minister, and others.
The FIR has alleged that Mr. Prasad, during his tenure as Railway Minister, handed over the maintenance of two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels to a company in 2004 after receiving a bribe in the form of a prime land in Patna through a ‘benami’ company owned by Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union Minister.
The ED had registered a criminal case against his family members and others under the PMLA, based on the CBI FIR. The CBI also recently recorded the statements of Mr. Tejashwi and Mr. Prasad in this case.
The ED is investigating the alleged “proceeds of crime” generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies, according to officials.
Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketing company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC managing director, P K Goel.
The CBI FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with favours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as ‘quid pro quo’.