ED issues fresh summons to Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri Devi

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi Yadav in connection with its money laundering probe pertaining to the railway hotels allotment case.

Sources said while Tejashwi has been summoned on October 24, Rabri has been called on October 27 for questioning in the case. While Tejashwi had been grilled once by the ED for more than nine hours, Rabri had skipped the summons at least four times. The agency is probing members of the Yadav family and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In July, the CBI had registered a criminal FIR and conducted multiple searches on the properties of Lalu, who is also a former Bihar chief minister, and others.

The CBI in its FIR alleged that Lalu Yadav, as railway minister, handed over the maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to a company after receiving a bribe in the form of prime land in Patna through a “benami” company owned by Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union minister.

Lalu Yadav was railway minister between 2004 and 2009. The ED had registered a criminal case against Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family members and others under the PMLA, based on the CBI FIR.