The CBI has summoned 11 railway employees to Delhi for questioning in the alleged land-for-jobs scam in the Indian Railways during the tenure of RJD chief Lalu Prasad as minister.

Of the employees called, nine are working at the Sonepur junction while the remaining two are posted at Muzaffarpur and Barauni junctions, respectively. They have been asked to be present before the CBI headquarters in Delhi on different dates between November 21 and 25.

Sources said the East Central Railway (ECR) chief general manager's office had issued relieving letters to the employees so that they could visit Delhi.

"The CBI has asked them to bring documents related to their identity, educational qualifications, residential address, work and character," a source told this newspaper.

The land-for-jobs scam allegedly occurred between 2004 and 2009 during the tenure of Lalu as railway minister. The CBI registered an FIR on May 18, 2022.

In its chargesheet filed on October 7, 2022, the CBI alleged that Lalu helped a large number of people from Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana to illegally secure Group D jobs in various railway zones across the country in lieu of money and land. These posts were not advertised to the public.

The CBI also mentioned in the chargesheet that its sleuths had recovered a computer hard disk during one of its searches in Patna. It contained details of 1,504 candidates of whom 900 were working with the railways.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the alleged scam through the angle of money laundering.

There have been several raids by the CBI and the ED in the case. Lalu and his family have been questioned on a couple of occasions. The ED has claimed to have found Rs 1 crore benami cash and evidence of money laundering worth Rs 600 crore.