CBI books Lalu Prasad Yadav in fresh corruption case, searches begin

CBI sources said the locations were spread across Delhi, Patna and Gopalganj. The fresh case is based on allegations that Yadav accepted plots of land as bribes to give jobs to people while he was the Union railways minister in the UPA government.

The development comes weeks after Yadav got bail in a fodder scam case. Yadav has been convicted in four fodder scam cases and is facing trial in one.

Yadav and his family members are also facing trial in another alleged corruption case where he is accused of favouring a private company in lieu of prime land in Patna while he was the railway minister. Known as the IRCTC scam, Yadav has already been charge-sheeted in the case. The CBI in 2018 charge-sheeted Yadav, his wife Rabri and son Tejashwi in the case.

The agency has alleged that as railways minister during the UPA government, Lalu favoured a company while awarding operation and maintenance contracts of two IRCTC hotels. As quid pro quo, his family received a prime piece of land in Patna at a throwaway price from the owners of the company that bagged the contract.

The agency had booked the three along with five others in July 2017 and even searched 12 locations, including the former Bihar chief minister’s residence in Patna.

The CBI also charge-sheeted Sujata Hotels, which won the contract for the maintenance of IRCTC hotels, its owners Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, former Union minister and close Lalu aide Prem Chand Gupta and his wife Sarla, then IRCTC group general managers V K Asthana and R K Gogia, then IRCTC managing director P K Goel and director Rakesh Saxena, and Lara Projects, a company through which the quid pro quo was allegedly arranged.

According to CBI, in 2006, Lalu Yadav as railways minister allegedly favoured Sujata Hotels for maintenance of two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri. As a quid pro quo, the CBI alleged, Rabri and Tejashwi were given prime property in Patna at throwaway prices.

The CBI has said that between 2004 and 2014, a conspiracy was hatched in pursuance of which BNR Hotels of Indian Railways located at Puri and Ranchi were first transferred to the IRCTC and later on given on lease to Patna-based Sujata Hotel Pvt Ltd for operations, maintenance and upkeep.

“The allegation is that during this process, the tender process was rigged and manipulated and the conditions were tweaked to help the private party (Sujata Hotel). In return, three acre land in western Patna was given to Delight Marketing—run by Sarla and Prem Chand Gupta–at a very low cost and subsequently between the period 2010 to 2014, this land was further transferred to another company Lara Projects owned by family members of Lalu Yadav,” the CBI has said.