IRCTC scam: A day after a Delhi Court issued a summons to former Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi in an IRCTC scam case, the latter has reacted sharply to the development and accused the BJP government of "deliberately" framing charges against her husband. She said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government was scared of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo and alleged him of using the Central agencies for political vendetta.
Her critical remarks came as the leaders were sent summoned in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam case in which the court directed them to appear before it on March 15. "Won't run away. We are facing these allegations for the past 30 years. BJP is scared of Lalu Yadav in Bihar," news agency ANI quoted Rabri as saying. "PM Modi is helping everyone run away. He helped Nirav Modi run away with crores," Rabri added.
Background
Earlier in 2021, the Central Bureau of Investigation had closed the case against Yadav and his family members after it found "no concrete evidence that could prove the allegations". However, in December last year, CBI again reopened the corruption cases against the former chief minister. According to the charge sheet, the Yadav was allegedly involved in providing jobs in lieu of land when he was the railway minister.
According to CBI, the 74-year-old leader had issued several key projects to Delhi Land & Finance (DLF)-- a commercial real estate developer-- when he was heading the Railway ministry in the UPA-1 government. The CBI alleged that the leader had received a property worth crores in South Delhi from DLF Group in exchange for several railway projects-- land lease projects in Mumbai's Bandra and the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station.
Why Tejashwi Yadav is dragged into the corruption case?
As per the allegation levelled in 2018, the property was first bought by a DLF-funded shell company at Rs 5 crore. The probe agency alleged that the property was purchased at much lower than the then-market rate of Rs 30 crore. Later, the shell company was bought by Lalu's son Twjashwi Yadav for just Rs 4 lakh by a transfer of shares. Notably, Tejashwi is currently holding the post of Deputy Chief Minister in Bihar. Besides his son, the CBI had also named daughters Chanda Yadav and Ragini Yadav in the case.
Also Read: Delhi Court issues summons against RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi in IRCTC scam case
