As Nitish Kumar allies with BJP, ED registers money laundering case against Lalu Prasad, family

NEW DELHI: Hours after Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of Bihar with BJP's support, Enforcement Directorate on Thursday registered a money laundering case against RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family members in a railway hotel allotment corruption case of UPA tenure. The case has been registered under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The central probe agency has taken cognisance of a CBI FIR in this regard to initiate the move. Earler this month, the CBI filed an FIR against him, Rabri Devi, Tejaswi Yadav and five others in a case of a piece of land given by a private party to them in return for license of two IRCTC hotels at Ranchi and Puri when Prasad was the railway minister. It is alleged that Lalu Yadav as railway minister handed over the maintenance of two railway hotels to a company after receiving a bribe in the form of prime land in Patna through a benami company owned by Sarla Gupta. The FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with alleged favours extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as a "quid pro quo", the CBI has alleged. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had quit on Wednesday claiming he can't work in the "current circumstances" following corruption allegations against Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. Ending a 20-month-long coalition of the Grand Alliance that defeated the BJP in 2015, Nitish Kumar met the Governor on Wednesday evening and handed his resignation claiming he can't work in the "current circumstances" following corruption charges against Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav -- son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. However, Nitish Kumar once again took over as chief minister of Bihar with BJP's support on Thursday, leaving the opposition's grand alliance in tatters and raising questions over its ability to counter the saffron party in the 2019 general elections. (With inputs from PTI)