ED questions Tejashwi Yadav in IRCTC case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday questioned Tejashwi Yadav, son of RJD leader Lalu Prasad, in connection with a money laundering probe into the 2006 IRCTC hotels maintenance contract case, an official said.

The former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister was asked over 100 questions during his day-long questioning that started around 11 a.m. at the agency's office here and his statement recorded, the ED official said.

This is for the second time that the ED questioned Tejashwi in the case. He was questioned by the ED for over nine hours on October 10.

Tejashwi appeared before the ED on Monday after skipping four earlier summons.

The ED is probing financial irregularities in the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Tejashwi, his father and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad and his other family members.

Tejashwi's mother Rabri Devi, against whom the ED has issued six summons, is next in line to be questioned in the case.

On July 27, the Enforcement Directorate had registered a case under the PMLA following an FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation and is probing the trail of funds allegedly transferred through shell companies.

The CBI registered a corruption case on July 5 against Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and Tejashwi for alleged irregularities in the allotment of contracts for two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006 to a private firm when the RJD chief was the Railway Minister.

The contracts were given to Sujata Hotels, a company owned by Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, allegedly in lieu of bribe in the form of a plot of prime land in Bihar, the CBI said.

Apart from Ahluwalia Contractors' promoter Bikramjeet Singh Ahluwalia, who has also been questioned in the case, former Union Minister Prem Chand Gupta's wife Sarla Gupta and then IRCTC Managing Director P.K. Goel are also accused in the case.

The CBI has recorded the statements of Tejashwi and Lalu Prasad in this case.

--IANS

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