Railway hotel case: Rabri Devi questioned by ED

PATNA: RJD leader and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi met officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday, responding at last to repeated summons for questioning in an alleged corruption case.

Devi, accompanied by her eldest daughter Misa Bharti and her husband, met officials at the ED’s zonal office after, sources said, the investigators heeded to her request for the questioning to be done in Patna instead of Delhi. The case has been registered in the national capital.

The RJD leader had ignored summonses from the ED at least six times. Her questioning began at 11:45am and went on till last reports came in at 5pm.

The probe is connected to a decision taken by her husband, Lalu Prasad, who is accused of having abused his position as the railway minister in 2004 to illegitimately hand over the maintenance of two Railways hotels to a private company after receiving a prime piece of land as bribe.

Most of Prasad’s family are named as suspects in the case. Prasad and his son, Tejashwi, have already been questioned by the ED, which is probing the money laundering aspect of the case. The corruption charges are being investigated by the CBI.

It was this case that led to a split between Prasad and his foeturned-friend Nitish Kumar, who decided to break the Grand Alliance coalition and realign with BJP in July, within weeks of the investigation being opened.

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. Prasad’s family has denied the allegations.

THE RJD LEADER HAD IGNORED SUMMONSES FROM THE ED AT LEAST SIX TIMES. HER QUESTIONING BEGAN AT 11:45AM AND WENT ON TILL LAST REPORTS CAME IN AT 5PM