An old picture purportedly showing RJD chief Lalu Prasad with Javed an absconding accused in Siwan journalist Rajdev Ranjan's murder went viral on social media on Tuesday.

Two weeks back, a similar photo of Lalu's elder son and health minister Tej Pratap Yadav accepting a bouquet from Mohammad Kaif, an absconding sharpshooter wanted in the same Siwan journalist murder went viral.

In the picture, Javed is seen sharing his feelings with Lalu and former confidant Ram Kripal Yadav, now a junior minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet. Earlier, Javed's photograph with Tej Pratap had appeared too. However, it could not be known when the photograph was taken.

Reacting to the photograph of Javed with Lalu, RJD national spokesperson Manoj Jha said there was nothing wrong in it. "Lalu ji is a public figure. He has a mass following. Several BJP leaders have such photographs," he added.

A senior RJD leader said the photograph was taken at a time when Kripal happened to be a leader of the party. Kripal deserted the RJD and joined hands with the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"The photograph is quite old as both Lalu and Ram Kripal are seen together on the stage, which implies that the image was taken when Ram Kripal used to be a member of the RJD," the RJD leader said.

The Supreme Court had issued notices to Tej Pratap on the basis of the photograph with Kaif. While Kaif surrendered in the Siwan court last week, Javed is still at large.

The CBI took over the investigation of the Rajdev murder case early this month. A 10-member team has been assigned to probe the case, which took a political overtone following accusations against former RJD MP Mohammad Sahahabuddin.