The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a fresh charge sheet against three persons, including Bhola Yadav, former special officer to Lalu Prasad Yadav, in connection with its probe in land-for-job scam, the agency said on Wednesday.

Apart from Yadav, two candidates – Ashok Kumar and Babita – who got jobs in Indian railways in lieu of bribes when the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief was the Union railway minister, have also been named by CBI in its latest charge sheet filed before a special court in Delhi.

“CBI has today (Wednesday) filed a supplementary chargesheet in land for job scam case pertaining to the tenure of then Union rail minister (Lalu Yadav) against three persons including then special officer to Lalu Yadav and two candidates,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

“As per CBI supplementary charge-sheet, after becoming Union rail minister, Lalu Yadav, with intent to acquire the land parcels situated at the places where his family was already owning land parcels or the places which were already connected to him, entered into alleged criminal conspiracy with his associates and family members and acquired land of various land owners, wherein he was having interest, by offering or providing group D employment in railways,” the spokesperson added.

The agency further said that “to implement the plan, (Lalu Yadav) with the help of Bhola Yadav devised an indirect way wherein the candidates were engaged firstly as substitutes and subsequently, were regularized.”

Lalu, the agency added, also conspired with officers of central railways and others, collected applications and documents of such candidates through his associates and then sent those to central railways to process and provide jobs.

Earlier, two charge sheets were filed by CBI – in October 2022 and July 2023 – for irregularities in engagements of other candidates in central railway and west central railway.

The agency said on Wednesday that “investigation in other zones of Indian railways is continuing”.

A court in Delhi, on February 28, granted bail to Rabri Devi and her daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav in the case.

It is alleged in the case that appointment of substitutes in Group-D jobs were done in the railways during 2004-09, violating the recruitment norms and procedures of the Indian Railways. The candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to the family members of Lalu Prasad at discounted rates of up to one-fourth to one-fifth of prevailing market rates.

Yadavs have denied the charges against them.