Koda booked for instigating prisoners

Former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, languishing in prison on charges of money laundering was slapped with yet another charge.

Ranchi: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, languishing in prison on charges of money laundering, was Wednesday slapped with yet another charge -- "instigating" inmates in Ranchi Jail, where his hand was fractured during police action, officials said.

The state government has replied to the home ministry`s query on the episode.

Koda, now in hosptal with a fractured hand, was allegedly leading a protest inside the jail Monday to demand better quality food for himself and other inmates.
"We have responded to the home ministry`s query on the Madhu Koda case," state Home Secretary J.B. Tubid said.

He, however, did not divulge the details of the report.

A first information report (FIR) has also been lodged against Koda for "instigating" the prisoners, a police officer said.
Koda has alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him in jail.

Talking to a local news channel at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) here, Koda said: "There was a conspiracy to kill me. I was beaten up by jail policemen and when I fell on the ground, they hit me with batons on my chest."

"I was taken to hospital three hours after the incident. I was sitting on dharna due to the poor food being given to prisoners. When I was sitting on the dharna, the policemen started beating me," he added.

Koda also said he had lodged a complaint against jail officials through his wife Geeta, who is a state legislator, but it was not converted into an FIR.

Earlier Wednesday, a delegation led by union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, the Lok Sabha member from Ranchi, which also included Koda`s wife, met Governor Syed Ahmad and sought a probe into the incident.

Chief Minister Arjun Munda has announced a probe by a retired judge.

Koda has been in jail since November 2009 in a Rs.4,000 crore money laundering scam. He and four former ministers of his cabinet are kept in a VIP cell of the jail here.

He is the Lok Sabha member from Singhbhum. An Independent member of the state assembly, he was the chief minister September 2006-August 2008.

IANS

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