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Rabri blasts Centre after CBI grills her in Laloo wealth case

Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi was today interrogated for more than 90 minutes by Central Bureau of Investigation sleuths in connection with a disproportionate assets case against her husband and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav.

The seven-member CBI team was headed by its Deputy Inspector General of Police N C Verma.

Verma told the media that the interrogation was 'over' and that Rabri Devi had cooperated with the team. He said the interrogation was part of the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam investigation.

Asked whether the CBI team was satisfied with the answers, Verma replied in the affirmative. He said the agency had asked the chief minister about 40 questions related to the case.

Meanwhile, Rabri Devi reiterated that she would cooperate with the CBI if any question remained 'untouched'.

She alleged that she had been interrogated again - she was quizzed by the agency in Patna on May 20 -- at the behest of the Centre which was out to malign her on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections.

She said the Centre was trying to humiliate her and her husband. She alleged that the CBI, which had collected no new facts in the disproportionate assets case, was dancing to the tunes of the Centre. She further said the Centre 'was victimising' her and Laloo Yadav through the CBI to get political mileage.

Laloo Yadav, who was also present at the media conference, alleged that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Bharatiya Janata Party were trying to tarnish the RJD's image. Vowing to 'teach a lesson to the communal forces', he invited the BJP to take the battle to the people's court.

UNI

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