CBI raids 12 places over railway hotel tender ‘irregularities’

Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths on Friday raided 12 places, including Puri and Bhubaneswar, across the country over alleged irregularities in awarding of tenders for hotel maintenance during the tenure of former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in 2006.
Besides Chanakya BNR hotel in Puri, simultaneous raids were also conducted in Delhi, Patna, Ranchi and Gurugram. Residences of Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and their son Tejaswi Yadav were also searched.
The case pertains to alleged corruption by Lalu’s family in awarding tenders to private firms for operating railway hotels located close to stations. Tenders were allegedly allotted to Sujata Hotels in 2006 for development of BNR hotels in Puri and Ranchi.
The case was registered against Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi and their son Tejashwi, who is the deputy chief minister of Bihar, CBI sources said. The then Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation managing director PK Goyal and the wife of Prasad’s confidante Prem Chand Gupta, Sujata, are among the other accused. Gupta is a former union corporate affairs minister.