IT SLEUTHS RAID HOMES OF MADHU KODA, 2 OTHERS

Income Tax sleuths raided the residences of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda on October 28 after the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against him and his three former ministerial colleagues, Hari Narayan Rai and Enos Ekka, 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. The Enforcement Directorate had registered the case on October 9 against them also on charges of making huge illegal investments abroad. Koda was Chief Minister from February 2006 to August 2008. According to the ECIR, Koda is alleged to have purchased mines in Liberia worth USD 17 lakh (Rs 8.5 crores) 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 crore rupees. Koda and eight others have been accused of amassing property worth hundreds of crores of rupees including those in places like UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Liberia. Two other cabinet colleagues of Koda have already been booked by the ED for alleged money laundering, foreign exchange violations and forgery.