Rabri skips ED appearance for 6th time

For the sixth time, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe, official sources said.
The wife of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad was last month given a fresh date for today to appear before the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case.
It was immediately not clear if the central probe agency will give her a fresh date to appear before it or take some other steps such as moving court.
It may also be possible that the agency may record her statement at its office in Bihar's capital Patna.

The ED had registered a case against Lalu Prasad, his family members and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on the CBI FIR.
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 plot of land in Patna through a 'benami' company owned by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union minister.

Earlier this month, Rabri's son and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav had skipped appearing before the ED and he has now been summoned to appear before the ED on November 13.

While Tejashwi has been once grilled by the ED for over nine hours in connection with the case, Rabri has skipped the ED summonses six times.
The sources said Rabri had informed the agency earlier about her ill-health and 'Chhath Pooja' as reasons for non- appearance.
In July, the Central Bureau of Investigation 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 also recently recorded the statements of Tejashwi and Lalu Prasad in the case.
The ED is investigating the alleged "proceeds of crime" generated by the accused, purportedly through shell companies, according to officials.

The CBI FIR also names 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'.