Rabri Devi Being Questioned By CBI In Land For Jobs Case

New Delhi: Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi is being questioned by the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) officials at her residence in Patna in connection with an alleged land-for-jobs scam.

The officials are just recording her statement and that this is not a raid or search. A prior appointment with Ms Devi was taken, NDTV reported, quoting CBI sources.

A day before, eight Opposition parties had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging misuse of central agencies for the BJP’s political motives. Among the signatories was Ms Devi’s son and Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. The letter mentioned former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav among opposition leaders targeted by central agencies. It said the moves of central agencies “had often sparked suspicion that they were working as extended wings of the ruling dispensation”.

The CBI’s land-for-jobs case names Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, and their daughters Misa and Hema besides 12 others who allegedly got jobs in exchange for land. The FIR, registered in May 2022, accuses Yadav and his family members of buying land at throwaway rates in return for giving out jobs during his tenure as Union Railway Minister from 2004-2009. Yadav’s aide and former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Bhola Yadav was arrested by the CBI in the case.

Notably, the Yadavs and the other accused are to appear in a Delhi court in connection with the case after a week.

The land for jobs case

The CBI filed a chargesheet last year under the offences of conspiracy and corruption. The FIR alleges that some persons, despite being Patna residents, were appointed as substitutes in Group-D posts in railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur. In return, it is alleged, these individuals transferred ownership of their land to Yadav’s family members and a company later taken over by the family.

In some cases, it is alleged, the land was transferred to the Yadavs at throwaway rates. The appointments, the CBI case says, were made in violation of the guidelines laid down by the Railways.

The RJD leaders have trashed the allegations, tagging them as politically motivated. Ms Devi last week said the BJP is scared of Lalu Prasad Yadav. “We won’t run away. We are facing these allegations for the past 30 years. BJP is scared of Lalu Yadav in Bihar.”