Land-for-jobs scam: CBI questions Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Delhi on Saturday in connection with the alleged land-for-jobs scam, after skipping three previous dates, officials said.

The CBI had given an assurance to the Delhi High Court last week that it would not arrest Yadav this month. According to the RJD leader's counsel, Maninder Singh, Yadav had conveyed to the federal agency that he would require some time to appear before its sleuths as the ongoing Bihar Assembly session is scheduled to conclude on April 5.

On March 15, a special CBI court granted bail to Yadav's father Lalu Prasad, mother Rabri Devi -- both former Bihar chief ministers -- sister Misa Bharti and others in the land-for-jobs "scam" case.

The CBI's investigation against the Yadav family and others is part of its ongoing probe into documents and evidence that surfaced after the first chargesheet was submitted and also into the alleged roles of the accused that could not be completed by the time the initial report was filed, according to officials.

The officials also said the fresh round of questioning of the accused is taking place as part of the "further investigation" based on fresh inputs gathered during the agency's 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, without any advertisement or public notice. The agency has claimed that substitutes from Patna were appointed in various zonal railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.

As a quid pro quo, the candidates, either directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to Prasad's family members at highly-discounted rates.

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