ED Summons RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Wife And Son In Railways Land For Jobs Scam Under Money Laundering Act

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and son Tej Pratap Yadav for an inquiry in the land-for-jobs money laundering case, TNIE reported.

Former Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Prasad, aged 76, has been summoned to testify before the federal investigation agency in Patna on Wednesday, while his family members have been called to appear on Tuesday (18 March).

Sources have indicated that the testimonies of the three individuals will be documented in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

However, according to the TNIE sources, it's possible that Prasad and his relatives might not present themselves to the agency.

In this case, Prasad and his younger son and former Bihar Depurt CM Tejashwi Yadav, have previously been interrogated by the ED.

In the previous year, the ED presented a chargesheet against Prasad's family members to a court in Delhi. The chargesheet named Rabri Devi, their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, among others, as the accused.

The investigation relates to the claims that Prasad, while serving as the railway minister in the UPA-1 central government, was involved in corrupt practices concerning the recruitment of group D replacements in the Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009.

As per the First Information Report (FIR) from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), job aspirants were instructed to "transfer land as a bribe" in exchange for employment in the railways, the ED previously stated in a release.

The case of money laundering originates from the complaint filed by the CBI.

"The family members of Lalu Prasad - Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav - who were made accused in the ED chargesheet, received land parcel(s) from the family of candidates (who were selected as group D substitutes in Indian Railways) for nominal amounts," the ED has said.