CBI reopens corruption case against Lalu Prasad Yadav months after he joins hands with Nitish Kumar

CBI has reopened the 2018 corruptin case against former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav just months his party joined hands with Nitish Kumar to form a government in the state and the latter parted ways with BJP.

Image credit: ANI

New Delhi: The the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reopened a corruption case against former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. CBI has reopened the case of corruption in the allotment of Railway which the national agency had begun the investigation in 2018 and was closed in 2021 after CBI said that "no case has been made out of the allegations".

However, the CBI has once again opened the case and the move of the national investigation agency is set to create political turmoil as it comes just months after Yadav's party tied up with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU) and formed the government.

2018 Railway corruption case against Lalu

The CBI had begun a probe into allegations of corruption in the allotment of Railway projects when Lalu was the Railway Minister in the UPA-1 government. However, the inquiry was closed in May 2021, with CBI sources saying that "no case has been made out of the allegations".

It is important to note that Lalu Prasad Yadav's son and Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, and daughters Chanda Yadav and Ragini Yadav are also among those named in the case.

According to reports, it had been alleged that property was bought by a DLF-funded shell company at Rs 5 crore at a cost much lower than the then market rate of Rs 30 crore. The shell company was then bought by Tejashwi Yadav and other relatives of Lalu for just Rs 4 lakh by a transfer of shares, giving them ownership of the south Delhi bungalow.