Land-for-jobs ‘scam’: Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav questioned by CBI for 8 hours

NEW DELHI: The CBI questioned Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav at its headquarters for more than eight hours on Saturday in an ongoing investigation concerning the land-for-jobs scam case, officials said.

Yadav had missed three earlier dates given by the agency and arrived at the CBI headquarters here at around 10:30 am according to his commitment to the Delhi High Court last week, they said.

Following necessary formalities, he was escorted to the investigating team which questioned him till around 8 PM with a nearly 90-minute lunch break, during which he went out of the building, they said.

The CBI’s line of inquiry was believed to have focused on Yadav’s financial transactions, including his purported links to AB Exports Private Limited and AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd.

Last week, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) assured the Delhi High Court that Yadav would not be arrested this month.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader’s counsel, Maninder Singh, had informed the high court that he would require some time to appear before the CBI investigators due to the ongoing Bihar Assembly session, scheduled to conclude on April 5.

The CBI’s counsel, D P Singh, had argued that the Assembly was not convened on Saturdays and Yadav could appear before the agency on any Saturday in March according to his convenience.

Maninder Singh had told the court that Yadav would appear before the investigating officer at the CBI headquarters in Delhi at 10:30 am on March 25.

The RJD leader had sought quashing of the summonses issued against him on February 28, March 4 and March 11.

A special CBI court had already granted bail to Yadav’s father Lalu Prasad, mother Rabri Devi, sister Misha Bharti and others in the same case on March 15.

The CBI’s probe is part of an ongoing investigation into documents and evidence that came to light after the initial charge sheet was submitted, as well as the alleged involvement of accused persons that could not be completed by the time the initial report was filed.

Officials said that fresh questioning was taking place as part of further investigation based on new inputs gathered during the agency’s ongoing probe.

The CBI has alleged that during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as railway minister from 2004 to 2009, favourite candidates were appointed in violation of norms and procedures without any advertisement or public notice.

The agency further claimed that substitutes from Patna were appointed in various zonal railways in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hazipur. In return, the candidates, directly or through their family members, allegedly sold land to Prasad’s family members at highly-discounted rates.