Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and his former Cabinet colleagues are under probe by the Income Tax department.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and his former Cabinet colleagues are under probe by the Income Tax department. Tax sleuths carried out nationwide raids to asses the extent of tax evasion by Koda and his former colleagues who were booked by the Enforcement Directorate earlier this month under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Koda (first ex-chief minister to be booked under PMLA) and his colleagues Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Bhandu Tirkey were booked by the ED on October 9 for plundering the Jharkhand state exchequer when in power and laundering it into properties and business concerns in India and abroad. In September two former Koda colleagues Hari Narayan Rai and Enos Ekka were raided by ED.
While the ED probe was restricted to money laundering, details concerned with the tax evasion by the accused were referred to the Income Tax department. The action began early this morning in a well-coordinated swoop and involved hundreds of IT sleuths that were spread across several cities. “Around 65 properties were raided today,” a senior IT official said. Properties belonging to Koda and his former Cabinet colleagues and trusted aides spread across Jharkhand, Ranchi, Chaibasa, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, Nasik, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.
Koda was minister of mines and cooperatives of Jharkhand from February 2005 to September 2006. In 2006 he became the first Independent member of the Legislative Assembly to become the chief minister.
Koda's other Cabinet colleagues in the dock are: Kamlesh Singh, who held the water resources, excise, civil and food supplies portfolios between February 2005 to January 2009; Bhanu Pratap Shahi, was minister for health and labour between September 2006 to January 2009; Bandhu Tirkey who held the charge of HRD and sports and culture ministries from September 2006 to January 2009; HN Rai, was minister for town development and tourism and Enos Ekka who was in-charge of the rural development ministry.
Koda through his key aides including Binod Sinha and Sanjay Choudhary had plundered the state exchequer. Koda invested US 17 lakh dollars in purchase of mines in Liberia. He had made investments in mines, steel and power projects in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Dubai and Singapore. Sinha and Choudhary had invested nearly Rs 200 crore in different properties. Koda's aides owned 14 companies in India, and two in Dubai including companies dealing in steel, cement, automobiles, power and tourism.
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