Land for jobs: Fresh ED summons for Lalu, Tejashwi

While Prasad has been asked to depose on January 29, Tejashwi has been called the next day, on January 30.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has issued fresh summons to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his son and Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav to appear for questioning at its Patna office in connection with the land-for-jobs case, officials from the federal probe agency said on Friday.

Outside the residence of Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi in Patna on Friday. (HT photo)

While Prasad has been asked to depose on January 29, Tejashwi has been called the next day, on January 30.

An ED team went to the official residence of Prasad’s wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, 10, Circular Road, in Patna, to deliver the summons, officials said, requesting anonymity.

The two have been asked to depose at the ED office on Bank Road in the capital.

The duo had skipped the earlier summonses issued in this case.

The deputy chief minister was earlier called to appear on December 22 and later asked to appear on January 5, but the RJD leader skipped the summons, calling the ED notice a “routine affair”.

The RJD chief was asked to depose on December 27 at ED headquarters in New Delhi. He too skipped.

The federal agency, which primarily probes money laundering cases, had questioned Tejashwi Yadav for eight hours on April 11, 2023.

The case, first lodged by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), relates to allegations that during his stint as railway minister from 2004-09, Lalu Prasad gave away railway jobs in lieu of plots of land either gifted for sold at throwaway prices by the beneficiaries to his family members.

Besides Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav are also named in the CBI FIR among 12 accused.

The ED had, in March 2023, conducted searches at the premises linked to Lalu Prasad and his family members.