Tejashwi Yadav unlikely to appear before CBI on Saturday in land-for-jobs case probe

Tejashwi has again sought a fresh date citing personal reasons

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav is unlikely to appear before the CBI for questioning on Saturday in the alleged land-for-jobs scam and has sought a fresh date citing personal reasons, officials said.

The federal agency summoned RJD leader Yadav for questioning on Saturday after he had skipped the previous date on March 4, they said.

He has again sought a fresh date citing personal reasons, they said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently questioned RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi -- former chief ministers of Bihar -- in Delhi and Patna respectively.

The case pertains to people allegedly given employment in the railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family and its associates, the officials said.

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After the recent questioning of his parents, Tejashwi Yadav had alleged that investigation agencies were acting against political opponents of the ruling BJP at the Centre.

"It is an open secret that probe agencies are acting against political opponents of the BJP and helping those who agree to align with that party," the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader had told reporters outside the Bihar assembly on Monday.

Yadav then said that Prasad, as the railway minister, had "no powers" to give employment in exchange for favours. He got support from the Congress and the AAP, which targeted the central government, alleging that the ruling BJP wanted to "suppress" the voice of the Opposition.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Saturday hinted that he agreed with the contention of ally RJD that the recent crackdown on its president Lalu Prasad and his family members by the CBI and ED was "politically motivated".

The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the land-for-jobs case against Prasad, Rabri Devi and 14 others under charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and all the accused have been summoned on March 15 by a special court, officials said.

The allegations have been denied by members of the Yadav family.

The officials said the fresh round of questioning is taking place as part of "further investigation" on the basis of fresh inputs gathered by it during its ongoing probe.

The CBI has alleged that during Lalu Prasad's tenure as the railway minister in the UPA government from 2004 to 2009, favourite candidates were appointed in the railways in violation of norms and procedures.

No advertisement or public notice was issued for appointment but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur, the CBI has alleged.

As a quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to the family members of Prasad at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates.