Ranchi: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda remanded to
14 days judicial custody by Special Vigilance Court.
Madhu Koda was arrested from West Singhbhum district on Monday by the Vigilance Bureau in a disproportionate assets case, weeks after defying repeated summons by various agencies probing the alleged hawala scam.
"He has been arrested and is being brought to Ranchi," Inspector General of Police (Vigilance), M V Rao, told reporters here.
"We have reached a stage when his arrest was necessary. We had taken the arrest warrant from the competent court," he added.
The police picked up 38-year-old Koda from his Dumri residence just before he was to address an election meeting at Sareikela, official sources said.
The arrest followed the independent MP's defiance of the Vigilance Bureau's summons to present himself before it on November 27, forcing it to issue fresh summons on December 4 in the disproportionate assets case.
Koda defied three summons by the Enforcement Directorate, one by the Income Tax department and one by the Vigilance bureau.
The Vigilance Bureau is investigating Koda's disproportionate assets case and the ED and I-T department are looking into the hawala transactions and illegal investments allegedly involving him and his aides.
Koda had written to the ED that he could not appear before them as he did not have some documents which required to be placed and that he was busy in electioneering.
Koda similarly wrote to the state Vigilance Bureau, saying he would appear only after the assembly elections concluded on December 18.
Assisted by the ED, the Income Tax department had on October 31 claimed that it had "clinching evidence" against Koda and his aides of alleged involvement in Rs 2000 crore hawala transactions and illegal investments.
Koda's close associates, Binod Sinha and Sanjay Choudhary, were absconding and arrest warrants have been issued against them by both the ED and the I-T.
The ED had arrested Sinha's brother, Vikas, who is now in judicial custody.
The Enforcement Directorate had registered a case against Koda on October 10.
ED to soon move court for Koda's custody
The Enforcement Directorate will
soon move a court in Jharkhand for obtaining custody of Koda.
Official sources said the Directorate, which had
repeatedly sent summons to 38-year-old Koda to appear before
it in connection with the money laundering case against him,
will bring him to the national capital once they get the
custody.
Sources said the ED which had registered cases against
the former CM and his close associates under the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act has found huge illegal investment and
hawala trail which connects Koda to the scam.
-PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 01, 2009, 09:34