The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday arrived at former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi’s home to question her in connection with its probe in a corruption case, ANI reported.
The development comes five months after the central agency filed a chargesheet against Devi, her husband and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav as well as 13 others in the case.
The case pertains to allegations that Yadav took land from job aspirants in return for employment with the railways. The scam allegedly took place when he was the Union Railway minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had initiated a preliminary inquiry in September 2021 and filed a first information report on May 18 last year.
Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti and a former general manager of the Railways have also been named as accused persons in the chargesheet filed before a special Central Bureau of Investigation court.
The central agency has alleged that candidates were appointed as substitutes in Group D positions in the Railways within three days of applying in “undue haste”. The appointments were later regularised when the “individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land”.
The transfers were made through deeds in the name of Rabri Devi and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, the central agency further added in the chargesheet.
On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that raids in Opposition-ruled states have become a trend and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government of orchestrating them.
“Raids going on members of Opposition is humiliating,” Kejriwal said, according to ANI. “They use ED [Enforcement Directorate], CBI and governor to trouble them…The nation can only move forward when everyone works together.”
But the BJP said that the Central Bureau of Investigation was doing its job as an independent agency in cases against Yadav and his family.
“Lalu Prasad’s brush with CBI has been long,” former state minister Nitin Nabin said, according to PTI. “The fodder scam cases, in which he has been convicted, were lodged much before the BJP came into picture.”
BJP leader Jibesh Kumar Mishra said that allegations of political vendetta against his party are baseless. “Lalu Prasad and his family are reaping what he has sown,” he said.
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