Ranchi:
Income Tax sleuths today raided the residences of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda after the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against him and his three former ministerial colleagues for alleged money laundering and diversion of state funds.
According to a senior IT official, separate teams conducted raids at Koda's residences in Ranchi and Chaibasa. "We can only tell later," he said when asked about the number of places being raided.
The Enforcement Directorate had registered the case on October 9 against them also on charges of making huge illegal investments abroad including purchase of mines as far as in Liberia. Koda was chief minister between February 2006 and August 2008.
38-year-old Koda, who may also face arrest, is the first former chief minister and high-profile politician to have been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), which is equivalent to an FIR, before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Ranchi against Koda and three of his cabinet colleagues - Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Bhandu Tirkey - besides five other persons.
According to the ECIR, Koda is alleged to have purchased mines in Liberia worth USD 17 lakh (Rs 8.5 crore) besides making other 'benami' purchases in the name of his close confidant Binod Sinha, once a tractor mechanic. As per the ECIR, the property in the name of Sinha runs into several hundred crores of rupees.