New Delhi: Tejashwi Yadav, son of RJD leader
Lalu Prasad, today skipped his scheduled appearance before the
Enforcement Directorate in connection with the its money
laundering probe in the railway hotels allotment corruption
case, officials said.
The former Bihar deputy chief minister has now been
summoned to appear on October 31, they said.
The agency had registered a case against Lalu Prasad, his
family members and others under the provisions of the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) sometime back.
Tejashwi's mother and former Bihar chief minister Rabri
has been asked by the ED to appear before it on October 27 for
questioning in the case.
Tejashwi was once grilled by the ED for over nine hours
in connection with the case.
Rabri Devi has skipped the ED summonses at least four
times.
In July, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had
registered an FIR and conducted multiple searches on the
properties of Lalu Prasad, who is also a former Bihar chief
minister, and others.
The CBI FIR has alleged that Lalu Prasad during his
tenure as the railway minister handed over the maintenance of
two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
hotels to a company in 2004 after receiving a bribe in the
form of a prime land in Patna through a 'benami' company owned
by Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union
minister.
The ED had registered a criminal case against his family
members and others under the PMLA, based on the CBI FIR.
The CBI also recently recorded the statements of Tejashwi
and Lalu Prasad in this case.
The ED is investigating the alleged "proceeds of crime"
generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies,
according to officials.
Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay
Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketing
company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC
managing director P K Goel.
The CBI FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with
favours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a
contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and
receiving premium land as 'quid pro quo'.
