CBI raids Lalu Prasad's premises, files fresh cases

The CBI has registered a fresh case against former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on the charge of taking land from aspirants in return for jobs in the railway, officials said on Friday.

The probe agency has started searches at 17 locations in Delhi and Bihar, they said.

The alleged land-for-jobs scam pertains to the period when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister in the UPA government, officials said.

The former Bihar chief minister was released from jail last month after the Jharkhand High Court granted him bail in the ₹139-crore fodder scam/treasury scam case. A CBI special court had sentenced him to five years in prison in the case.

The CBI has registered a fresh case against former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members on the charge of taking land from aspirants in return for jobs in the railways when he was the Union Minister in the UPA government.

The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry into allegations which was converted into the FIR, officials said.

Following the FIR against Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, daughters Misa and Hema, besides several candidates, the CBI started a search operation on Friday morning at 16 locations in Delhi, Patna and Gopalganj.

The probe agency has registered the FIR under IPC section 120-B, which deals with criminal conspiracy, and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, officials said.

It is alleged that several prime properties were given to the Yadav family in exchange for jobs in Railways under Lalu Prasad Yadav from 2008 to 2009.

In a cryptic tweet, Rashtriya Janata Dal took a veiled dig at the CBI, “Tota (parrot) hai, Toton ka kya.” The CBI had earned the sobriquet from an observation of the Supreme Court, calling it a “parrot” of political masters during the UPA government.