IRCTC case: Lalu, wife, son, top Railway Board official charge-sheeted
New Delhi, April 16: The CBI on Monday filed a charge-sheet against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav, a top Railway Board official, RJD MP P.C. Gupta and others in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in the 2006 IRCTC hotels maintenance contract case.
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official told: "The agency has filed a charge-sheet against 12 persons and two companies in a Delhi court.
"Lalu Prasad, his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, his son and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, then MD of IRCTC P.K. Goel, Chanakya hotel owners Vinay and Vijay Kochhar, Sarala Gupta -- wife of Prem Chand Gupta, and Lara Projects LLP."
Besides, the CBI charge-sheet also named Additional Member of the Railway Board B.K. Agarwal, who was then Group General Manager (GGM) of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
The official said in the case filed last year, Agarwal's name was not there. His name was included only after evidence was found against him.
The CBI also charge-sheeted former GGM of IRCTC V.K. Asthana, R.K. Gogia -- then company secretary and GGM of IRCTC, Ramesh Saxena -- then IRCTC Director and Sujata Hotel Pvt Ltd.
The case pertains to the period when Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister.
On April 10, the CBI had grilled Rabri Dev for hours in Patna in connection with the case.
In October last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also questioned Lalu Prasad and his younger son Tejashwi Yadav at its Delhi headquarters.
The CBI on July 5, 2017 filed a corruption case against Rabri Devi, Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav for alleged irregularities in the allotment of contracts of two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006 to a private firm.
The contracts were given to Sujata Hotels, a company owned by Vijay and Vinay Kochhar -- both named in the CBI FIR -- in lieu of a bribe in the form of a three-acre commercial plot at a prime location in Patna district.
A preliminary CBI inquiry reportedly found that the said land was sold by the Kochhars to one Delight Marketing Company and payment was arranged through Ahluwalia Contractors and its promoter Bikramjeet Singh Ahluwalia, another accused in the case.
Delight Marketing, which bought the property from the Kochhars, was later taken over by Rabri Devi and Tejashwi, the CBI discovered.
Sarla Gupta, wife of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's close associate Prem Chand Gupta and a director of Delight Marketing, is a co-accused in the case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the money laundering aspect in the case and it had on July 27 last year registered a separate case following the CBI FIR.
The ED is probing Lalu Prasad and others for alleged transfer of money through shell companies.
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Espionage racket busted: YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra among six Indians arrested for spying for Pakistan
New Delhi: Indian authorities have arrested six individuals for allegedly spying for Pakistan, including Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra. Malhotra, who operated the travel-themed YouTube channel "Travel with Jo", is accused of maintaining contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives and sharing sensitive information.
According to a report by India Today, Malhotra had visited Pakistan in 2023 after obtaining a visa through commission agents. During her visit, she reportedly developed a close relationship with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a former staff member at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Danish was declared persona non grata and expelled from India on May 13, 2025, following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Investigators claim Danish introduced Malhotra to multiple Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), including an individual identified as Shakir alias Rana Shahbaz. Malhotra allegedly stayed in contact with these operatives through platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat. She is also reported to have saved one contact under the alias “Jatt Randhawa.”
Authorities allege that Malhotra shared sensitive information about key Indian locations with PIOs. She is also suspected of having had an intimate relationship with one of the operatives and travelling with him to Bali, Indonesia. Her YouTube videos have been noted for presenting Pakistan in a favorable light, and she was reportedly in frequent communication with Danish during his tenure in India.
In addition to Malhotra, the arrested individuals include a 32-year-old widow named Guzala from Malerkotla, Punjab. Guzala is said to have visited the Pakistan High Commission in February 2025 to apply for a visa and remained in close contact with Danish, who allegedly promised to marry her and sent her money on multiple occasions. Visas were also arranged for Guzala and her friend Banu Nasreen, another widow from Malerkotla.
A third suspect from Malerkotla and a 25-year-old student from Haryana were also arrested. The student reportedly established contact with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during a religious pilgrimage and is accused of sharing sensitive military details. Another individual named Arman, a resident of Nuh district in Haryana, was arrested for allegedly supplying Indian SIM cards and transferring funds to Pakistan-based handlers.
