CBI arrives to question Lalu Yadav in land-for-jobs scam

A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi at her home in Patna in connection with an alleged land-for-jobs scam, the probe agency today reached her daughter Misa Bharti's house at Pandara Road to question former union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the same case.

The CBI case, which names the Yadav couple and their daughters Misa and Hema, among others, is based on accusations that Yadav and his family members bought land at cheap rates in exchange for jobs during his tenure as Union Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009. 

Besides the veteran politician, his wife, and his daughters, the FIR, registered in May 2022, names 12 people who allegedly got jobs in exchange for land. In July last year, Yadav's aide and former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Bhola Yadav was arrested by the CBI in the case.

Notably, eight Opposition parties had just two days back shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging misuse of central agencies for the BJP's political motives. Among the signatories was Rabri Devi's son and Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.

The letter referred to former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Yadav among opposition leaders targeted by central agencies. It said the moves of central agencies "had often sparked suspicion that they were working as extended wings of the ruling dispensation".