Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was on Thursday questioned by the Central bureau of Investigation (CBI), after choosing not to appear before the agency repeatedly.
According to reports, Lalu left for CBI headquarters at around 10.20 am and was quizzed at length over alleged irregularities in issuing contracts for two IRCTC hotels in 2006 to a private company.
Along with Lalu, the CBI had sent summons to the former Railway Minister’s son, Tejashwi Yadav, who is likely to appear before the agency on Friday.
Both father and son were on 22 September summoned by the CBI to appear on 25 and 26 September respectively to assist the agency in the investigation.
Earlier, the CBI summoned the RJD chief and his son, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, on September 7 to report at its headquarters in Lodhi Road area of south Delhi for questioning on 11 and 12 September.
The CBI had on 5 July filed a corruption case against Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav for alleged irregularities when Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009.
The contracts for two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels at Ranchi and Puri were handed over to Sujata Hotels company owned by Vijay and Vinay Kochhar in lieu of an alleged bribe in the form of a plot of prime land in Bihar, the CBI said.
According to the CBI, Lalu Prasad allegedly granted illegal favours to Sujata Hotels.
The CBI, which registered the case under charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and Prevention of Corruption Act, claimed that the kickbacks were paid through a ‘benami’ company owned by Sarla Gupta, wife of RJD MP Prem Chand Gupta.
During the CBI’s preliminary inquiry, the agency purportedly found that the said land was sold by the Kochhars to Delight Marketing, and payment was arranged through Ahluwalia Contractors and its promoter Bikramjeet Singh Ahluwalia.