Lalu Yadav outside the CBI headquarters with his daughter Misa Bharti (PTI photo)
Highlights
- Lalu Yadav interrogated for 7 hours by CBI in Delhi
- Accused of corruption during term as Railways Minister
- Daughter Misa Bharti was with him, had no photo ID
Perhaps it was in reaction to the substantial grilling that Lalu Yadav requested the CBI today to provide him with a "
kam masala" or simple lunch, Bihari if possible. He was obliged with a menu of
jeera rice,
aloo chokha and
arhar dal at the investigating agency's headquarter in Delhi where the 69-year-old spent seven hours about an alleged corruption swindle that he masterminded when he was Railways Minister.
Lalu, as he likes to be known, arrived for interrogation at 10.40 am and after which a team of five investigators tried to unspool his defense.
The charges against Lalu are that in 2006, he assigned two hotels, both owned by the Railways of which he held charge, to a private firm through a 15-year-lease. In return, the firm allegedly bought a three-acre plot of land in Patna which was routed through a jumble of shell firms to Lalu's children, two of whom were ministers in Bihar till July.
That's when the CBI named Lalu and his sons in what's known as the hotels-for-land scam. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar used the case to pull the trigger on a decomposing relationship with Lalu and the Congress, with whom he was running the Bihar government. He then teamed with the BJP to remain Chief Minister.
Lalu and his sons have vigorously denied any wrongdoing, but along with his wife and daughters, they are now persons of interest in a rich assortment of corruption scandals which they attribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's determination to persecute political opponents.
Lalu's daughter, Misa Bharti, who is an MP and accused of money-laundering, waited in the lobby of the CBI office for the seven hours of his questioning. Her arrival was not without incident. She was not carrying an Aadhar card or any other form of identification. When she asked to be allowed into the building with Lalu, officers relented after photographing father and daughter together for their records.
Lalu may be sought for questioning again tomorrow, said CBI officials who are scheduled to interrogate his son Tejashwi.