IRCTC hotels scam: Lalu Prasad Yadav appears before CBI

The CBI had issued fresh summons to RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejashwi to appear for questioning on October 3 and 4 respectively.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday for questioning in connection with the Railway hotel tender case.

His son Tejashwi Yadav, former deputy chief minister of Bihar, is scheduled to appear before the CBI on October 6.

The CBI had issued fresh summons to RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejashwi to appear for questioning on October 3 and 4 respectively.

Earlier, the agency had rejected the politicians' plea seeking 15 days' time for appearing before the investigation team in the case which relates to alleged graft in awarding a contract to a private firm for the maintenance of two railway hotels when Lalu Yadav was the Union railway minister in 2006.

Lalu allegedly handed over maintenance deals of two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels - BNR Ranchi and BNR Puri - to Sujata Hotel, a private firm owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar.

On July 7, 2017, the CBI had filed a FIR against Lalu. The FIR alleged that the RJD leader abused his official position for extending undue favours to the Kochhars and acquired a piece of "high value premium land" through the benami firm Delight Marketing Company.

(With agency inputs)