The Enforcement Directorate questioned RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for more than eight hours on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering case. The development came a day after the agency quizzed his father Lalu Prasad Yadav about an alleged land-for-jobs scam. Opposition leaders meanwhile asserted that the BJP’s top leadership was ‘afraid’ and targeting them by ‘misusing’ the central probe agencies.
The agency had filed a prosecution complaint against several members of the Yadav family at the beginning of January in connection with the scam. It alleges that the former Chief Minister’s kin — Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti and Hema Yadav — received land parcels for nominal amounts as a bribe.
The ED probe was initiated on the basis of a CBI FIR that accuses former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav of indulging in corrupt practices. The case pertains to the appointment of Group D substitutes in Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009.
The CBI filed its chargesheet in October last year against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, their daughter Misa Bharti, and 13 others. The central agency asserts that the candidates were asked to transfer land as a bribe in return for the jobs.
Tejashwi Yadav arrived at the ED office in Patna amid heavy security deployment on Tuesday morning as a large number of RJD supporters raised slogans. The former deputy chief minister was quizzed for more than eight hours — leaving the premises after 8 pm. Reports quoting sources indicate that his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. However details about the interaction remain elusive at present.
He appeared before the probe agency a day after his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was questioned for nearly ten hours by the central agency in the same case.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 30 Jan 2024, 10:03 PM IST
