Lalu's brother derails railway project in Bihar

SPANNER IN THE WORKS: The line touted as Lalu's pet project will pass through his ancestral village.

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Gopalganj (Bihar): First his in-laws were caught travelling without tickets, and then his brother forcibly got the platform of a train changed. And now, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder brother has been reported to have forcefully stopped the construction of a new line.

This new railway line, which is touted as Lalu’s pet project, will connect Hathua to Dewaria in Uttar Pradesh, and will pass through Lalu's ancestral village Phulwaria and wife Rabri Devi's village Selarkala.

But Lalu's elder brother Gulab Yadav, has thrown a spanner in the works. He has allegedly stopped work on the line claiming he hasn't been paid compensation for land acquired for it.

Railway officials claim he even assaulted them.

“He asked me if I was Phulwari Mishra. When I answered, he slapped me and ordered me to stop all construction work during the night," railway engineer Phulwari Mishra says.

Earlier, CNN-IBN had reported how railway rules were bent to connect these high-profile villages.

While the compensation for most of the land acquired has been paid, Gulab Yadav claims he is yet to get the compensation for 6000 sq ft land acquired from him.

"Gulab Yadav has stopped all construction work because of delayed payment. He’s Lalu’s brother after all. He says he hasn’t been given the compensation for his land,” Subodh Kumar.

Despite all criticism and scrutiny, Lalu kept the pace of work going on this rail connecting his ancestral village to that of Rabri Devi but none other than his own brother has derailed his pace.

When CNN-IBN contacted him, Gulab Yadav refused to comment.

Meanwhile, district authorities say the land in question is government property, which had been illegally acquired by Gulab Yadav when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the state Chief Minister.