Lalu Prasad, Kin Summoned By ED For Questioning In Land-For-Jobs Scam

The statements of the three are to be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

The sources, however, said that Prasad and his family members may not appear before the agency.

Prasad and his younger son Tejashwi Yadav have been questioned by the ED in this case earlier.

Last year, the ED filed a chargesheet in the case against Prasad’s family members before a Delhi court, naming Rabri Devi and their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav as accused apart from some others.

The probe pertains to the allegation that Prasad, during his tenure as the railway minister in the UPA-1 government at the Centre, indulged in corruption for the appointment of group D substitutes in Indian Railways during 2004-2009.

According to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR, the candidates were told to “transfer land as a bribe" in return for jobs in the railways, the ED said in a statement earlier. The money laundering case is based on the CBI complaint.

“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.

“Hridyanand Chaudhary, another accused named in the chargesheet, is a former employee in the gaushala of Rabri Devi who had acquired property from one of the candidates and later transferred the same to Hema Yadav," the ED has said.

Firms like A K Infosystems Private Limited and A B Exports Pvt. Ltd. were “shell" companies which received proceeds of crime for Prasad’s family members, the agency said, adding that immovable properties were acquired in the name of the said companies by “front men".

Later, the ED claimed, shares were transferred to Prasad’s family members for nominal amounts.