The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued summons to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, and their son Tej Pratap Yadav for questioning in the ongoing land-for-jobs money laundering case, official sources confirmed Tuesday.

Prasad, aged 76, is scheduled to appear before the agency in Patna on Wednesday, while Rabri Devi and Tej Pratap have been called for Tuesday. Their statements will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), though sources indicate the trio may skip the summons, as Prasad and his younger son Tejashwi Yadav—previously questioned—have done before.

The investigation centers on allegations of corruption during Prasad’s tenure as Union Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009 under the UPA-1 government. The ED claims that Group D railway jobs were traded for land parcels transferred to Prasad’s family at nominal rates. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR underpins the case, alleging candidates bribed officials with land to secure positions. Last year, the ED filed a chargesheet in a Delhi court, naming Rabri Devi, daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, and others, including Hridyanand Chaudhary—a former employee at Rabri Devi’s gaushala who allegedly funneled property to Hema Yadav.

The ED asserts that shell companies like A K Infosystems Pvt Ltd and A B Exports Pvt Ltd were used as fronts to acquire properties with proceeds of crime, later transferring shares to Prasad’s family for negligible amounts.

The agency’s August 2024 chargesheet detailed how A K Infosystems, holding land worth Rs 63 crore in 2014, was shifted to Rabri Devi (85%) and Tejashwi (15%) for just Rs 1 lakh. With assets worth over Rs 239 crore seized so far, the ED’s latest summons signal intensified scrutiny of the Yadav family, whose political clout faces a test amid Bihar’s looming Assembly polls