CBI searches at premises of Lalu's family over hotel tender irregularities

The CBI today carried out searches at the premises of family members of former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with a fresh case of alleged irregularities in awarding the tender for maintenance of hotels.

The case has been registered against the then railway minister, his wife Rabri Devi, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and his son Tejashwi, the then IRCTC MD, P K Goyal, the wife of Yadav's confidante Prem Chand Gupta, Sujata, and others, CBI sources said. Gupta is a former Union corporate affairs minister.

The sources said the FIR relates to allegations of irregularities in the tender for development, maintenance and operation of BNR Hotels in Ranchi and Puri, awarded to the private Sujata Hotels in 2006.

The BNR Hotels are heritage hotels of the Railways which were taken over by the IRCTC from the public transporter earlier in the same year.

Searches are being conducted today at 12 locations including Delhi, Patna, Ranchi, Puri and Gurgaon, they said.