Land-for-jobs ‘scam’- Fresh ED summons to Tejashwi Yadav, asked to appear on Jan 5

Land-for-jobs ‘scam’: Fresh ED summons to Tejashwi Yadav, asked to appear on Jan 5

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a fresh summons to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in the railway land-for-jobs scam case. He has been asked to appear on January 5, PTI reported, citing official sources.

Tejashwi Yadav was earlier called to appear on December 22, however, he had skipped the summons. The 34-year-old had called the ED notice a routine affair.

The ED had earlier questioned him on April 11.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has been asked to deposed on December 27 in connection with the same case at the ED headquarters in New Delhi.

The alleged case pertains to the period when Lalu Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA-1 government. From 2004 to 2009, several people were allegedly appointed to Group “D” positions in various zones of the Indian Railways in return for land they transferred to the family members of Prasad, the then railway minister, and a linked company named A K Infosystems Private Limited.

The director of AK Infosystems was Amit Katyal, a “close aide” of the Lalu Prasad family. He was arrested by the ED in November.

“The registered address of the company is D-1088, New Friends Colony, New Delhi, which is the house belonging to Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members,” the agency had alleged.

“Several other lands were also acquired by Amit Katyal in the said company in return for giving undue favours by Lalu Prasad Yadav when he was minister of railways,” the agency said.

After acquiring the land, it said, shares of the said company were “transferred” to the family members of Lalu Prasad in 2014.

The ED case, filed under the criminal sections of the PMLA, stems from a complaint lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In October, Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav were granted bail by a trial court after the CBI filed a chargesheet against them in this case.