Zeenews Bureau
Ranchi: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister
Madhu Koda, who is being questioned by Income Tax officials
for alleged hawala transactions, was today admitted to a
hospital here with complaints of high blood pressure and
stomach ache.
"A week back he was discharged from the hospital after
being cured of a kidney ailment. Today he came with stomach
ache and his blood pressure was high," one of the doctors
attending on him at the Abdur Razzak Memorial Weavers’
Hospital told reporters here.
A series of tests like ultra sound, X-rays and blood
tests were being conducted on him, the doctor said.
Earlier, hospital spokesman Javed Akhtar had said that
Koda was taken to the intensive care unit of the hospital.
Since Saturday last, IT sleuths have been raiding
residences of Koda and his associates at 70 places in nine
cities across the country with the IT department claiming to
have found evidence of 'hawla transactions' and 'illegal
investments' running into more than Rs 2,000 crore.
But the I-T sleuths had been claiming that Koda was not assisting them in the probe.
"Koda is not fully cooperating in the investigation," I-T department's Director General for Investigations Anjani Kumar said, adding search operations are still going on at some places.
I-T sources said Koda had provided information about investments made at different places; the network used to invest money and listed the names of people involved in the illegal transactions.
An official press release on Monday said the I-T department is continuing its search and seizure operations under provisions of the Income Tax Act and has summoned six people for questioning.
The six who have been asked to appear before the department on November 6 are Vinod Kumar Sinha, Sanjay Chaudhary, Devendra Mukhiya, Basant Bhattacharya, Manoj Punamiya and Anil Bastawde. Sinha and Chaudhary are close associates of Koda.
"If they fail to appear on the said date, the department will be constrained to take strict legal actions as permissible under various laws," the statement added.
Both Sinha and Chaudhary have not yet appeared before the I-T officials. On Saturday, I-T officials said legal action would be initiated if they did not report by Sunday evening. Airport authorities have now been alerted so that they do not flee the country, officials said on Monday.
I-T department, which is probing a disproportionate assets allegation against Koda and his associates, last week conducted raids at 70 places in eight cities and discovered documents relating to illegal transactions worth Rs 2,000 crore.
The searches continued on Sunday and on Monday to gather evidence of corruption against Koda and his associates. Officials confirmed that searches were conducted at seven new places on Monday.
According to sources, documents related to investments of Koda, Sinha and Chaudhary have been seized. The sources said day and night searches may continue for the next two to three days.
"This is one of the largest raids against people who have developed network not only in different Indian states but also in many foreign countries," an I-T source said.
-T officials have seized a laptop, hard disk and documents from Koda's houses and are investigating his links with a resort in the Andamans.
Over 70 bank accounts and lockers have been frozen so far and the process has been initiated to freeze the bank accounts of Sinha and Chaudhary. The sources also revealed that jewellery worth over Rs 2 crore, cash amounting to Rs 2.7 crore and investments related documents have been found from various places during the searches.
I-T and Enforcement Directorate sleuths are now focusing on the raids in Mumbai.
"In Mumbai, the documents seized showed the illegal transaction in three companies raided and money sent to foreign countries through Hawala is more than Rs 2,500 crore," said an informed source in the I-T department.
According to I-T officials, Vinod Sinha apparently owns three firms in Mumbai and their transactions in the last one-and-a-half years are - Balaji Bullion Corporation (Rs 360 crore), Balaji Bullion Bazar (Rs 990 crore) and Balaji Bullion Commodities (Rs 100 crore).
IT officials have also seized documents worth Rs 550 crore sent through hawala to Dubai, Thailand, Malyasia and African countries and Interpol help might be sought to probe the case, the source said.
Raids are continuing at more than 100 people's houses and companies in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Chaibasa, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Ghaziabad among other places. The houses of Sinha and Chaudhary's chartered accountants in Ranchi and Jamshedpur have also been searched, officials said.
I-T officials have seized a laptop, hard disk and documents from Koda's houses and are investigating his links with a resort in the Andamans.
Over 70 bank accounts and lockers have been frozen so far and the process has been initiated to freeze the bank accounts of Sinha and Chaudhary. The sources also revealed that jewellery worth over Rs 2 crore, cash amounting to Rs 2.7 crore and investments related documents have been found from various places during the searches.
I-T and Enforcement Directorate sleuths are focusing on the raids in Mumbai.
"In Mumbai, the documents seized showed the illegal transaction in three companies raided and money sent to foreign countries through Hawala is more than Rs 2,500 crore," said an informed source in the I-T department.
According to I-T officials, Vinod Sinha apparently owns three firms in Mumbai and their transactions in the last one-and-a-half years are - Balaji Bullion Corporation (Rs 360 crore), Balaji Bullion Bazar (Rs 990 crore) and Balaji Bullion Commodities (Rs 100 crore).
IT officials have also seized documents worth Rs 550 crore sent through hawala to Dubai, Thailand, Malyasia and African countries and Interpol help might be sought to probe the case, the source said.
Raids are continuing at more than 100 people's houses and companies in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Chaibasa, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Ghaziabad among other places. The houses of Sinha and Chaudhary's chartered accountants in Ranchi and Jamshedpur have also been searched, officials said.
With IANS inputs
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 15:38