Lalu Yadav was questioned by the Education Bureau for more than 9 hours over the land-for-job fraud case

Bharatiya Janata Party (RJD) president and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials for over nine hours in Patna on Monday. The inquiry involves a land-for-job case. The former chief minister arrived at the investigating agency’s office in Patna around 11:00 am today along with his daughter Misa Bharti and her husband.

The central investigation agency issued summons to Yadav on January 19 as he had failed to appear before the court.

Notably, the inquiry comes in the wake of BJP leader Nitish Kumar’s decision to ditch the Congress and Bihar BJP-led Mahagathbandhan alliance and take oath as Bihar chief minister for the ninth time Conducted the next day.

The investigating agency alleged that Yadav violated recruitment procedures by grabbing land from job seekers in exchange for employment opportunities in the railways when he was the Union Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009.

A large number of RJD supporters gathered outside the ED office before Lalu was questioned.

Misa Bharti slams BJP

Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharti has slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government for issuing an education ministry summons to her father in the land-for-job scam.

“This is nothing new. Whenever they (the central government) need it, they will issue summons to us. Now, not just our family, they are also issuing summons to all the opposition,” Misa said.

Apart from Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and daughters Misa and Hema Yadav are also named in the CBI FIR Twelve other defendants were named. In March 2023, the ED conducted searches at premises related to Lalu Prasad and his family.