Lalu Yadav quizzed for over 9 hours by ED

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Patna for over nine hours on Monday in connection with the land-for-jobs case. The former Chief Minister reached the probe agency’s office in Patna at around 11:00 am this morning, along with his daughter Misa Bharti and her husband.

The central investigative agency issued summons to Yadav on January 19 after he failed to appear before it on the earlier dates.

Notably, the questioning comes a day after Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar decided to ditch the Mahagathbandhan alliance led by Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar and took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the ninth time.

The investigative agency has alleged that Yadav took land from job aspirants in return for employment with the Railways when he was the Union Railways Minister between 2004 and 2009, contravening the recruitment procedures.

A large number of RJD supporters gathered outside the ED office ahead of Lalu’s questioning.

Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharti hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government over the ED summons issued to her father in the land-for-jobs scam case.

“This is nothing new. Whenever they (central government) want, they send us a summon. Now, not just our family, but they are also sending summons to all those who are in opposition,” Misa said.

Besides Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and daughters Misa and Hema Yadav are also named in the CBI FIR among other 12 accused. The ED, in March 2023, conducted searches at the premises linked to Lalu Prasad and his family members.

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