Never rains but pours for Lalu as son-in-law is questioned

Rahul Yadav gave Rs10m loan to Lalu’s wife to buy land, and the ED wants to know source of funds

There seems to be no end to troubles for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad’s family.

In a fresh development, Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now issued summons to Rahul Yadav for giving a loan of Rs10 million (Dh573,801) to his mother-in-law and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, wife of incarcerated RJD president Lalu Prasad — who is serving a three-and-a-halfyear prison term in a fodder scam case.

Rahul, who is husband of Lalu’s fourth daughter Ragini Yadav, had reportedly given the loan to his mother-in-law to buy plots of land in Patna, and the ED now wants to know from him the source of this money, reports said.

Yadav is the second son-inlaw of Lalu to be summoned for questioning. Earlier, the ED had questioned Lalu’s other son-in-law, Shailesh Kumar, who is husband of the couple’s eldest daughter, Misa Bharti, a Rajya Sabha Member, in a money-laundering case. The case pertains to purchase of alleged tainted assets involving a firm, Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Limited.

Scam allegations

In December, the ED had confiscated a 1.2 hectare plot worth Rs450 million belonging to Lalu’s family in Patna in connection with the infamous land-for-railway hotel scam.

The family was constructing what it claimed the biggest mall in Bihar on the said plot but much before the project could complete, the alleged scam surfaced and the land was confiscated.

The confiscation order came barely a week after the ED authorities questioned Rabri Devi in connection with the scam in Patna. Apart from her, RJD president and his son Tejashwi Yadav are accused in the scam. The ED had earlier questioned Tejashwi in connection with the scam.

The ED had registered the case against Lalu and his family in July last year, shortly after the CBI also filed a formal case against them, wherein Lalu and his family were charged with getting 1.2 hectares of land from the hoteliers in lieu of alleged favours in awarding tenders. According to the CBI, the 1.2-hectare plot, then valued at Rs320 million, was given for a mere Rs5.4 million to the RJD chief’s family.