Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad is being questioned by the CBI in connection with a case of alleged irregularities in giving the maintenance contract for two IRCTC hotels to a private firm.
The contracts were given when Lalu was the railway minister.
Lalu did not speak to the media while entering the CBI headquarters in New Delhi at 11am Thursday. He was accompanied by his daughter and Rajya Sabha MP, Misa Bharti, who was asked to wait in the lobby.
The former Bihar chief minister was taken to the investigation officer of the case.
Lalu had earlier skipped three summons by the CBI seeking more time due to prior engagements. The CBI has also summoned his son Tejashwi Yadav in the same case on Friday.
According to the CBI FIR, when Lalu was the Union miniter, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation — a subsidiary of the Indian Railways — handed over the maintenance of its two hotels in Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Puri (Odisha) to Sujata Hotel, a company owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar, in return for a prime plot of three acres in Patna through a benami company.
A case was registered naming Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, a former Bihar chief minister, son Tejashwi and Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union minister, as accused in the case.
{{/usCountry}}A case was registered naming Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, a former Bihar chief minister, son Tejashwi and Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union minister, as accused in the case.
{{/usCountry}}