Koda Hospitalized; IT Raids On
Following a complaint of stomach pain, former chief minister Madhu Koda has been hospitalized to ICU of Apollo, Ranchi.
Koda is facing legal action regarding hawala transactions and illegal investments worth Rs 2,000 crore. Income Tax officials said that he is still being interrogated and searches are on.
Earlier, the Income Tax Department had issued an ultimatum to his aides to appear before it.
It may be mentioned that the deadline of appearance before the department given to Koda’s close aides had ended today.
According to Income Tax authorities, Koda was not co-operating with the investigation.
“Madhu Koda is not co-operating with us in our investigation. We have issued notices to six people, including Binod Sinha and Sanjay Chowdhary, to appear before us by Nov 6, else we will take legal action,” said Ashwini Kumar, DG, Income Tax.
In the meantime, officials said that more and more wealth is being discovered.
Authorities claim to have recovered documents that suggested the former chief minister allegedly sent Rs 560 crore abroad through hawala.
They haven’t, however, commented on whether they’ve approached the Interpol for help yet.
I-T sources claimed Koda had allegedly amassed over Rs 2,000 crore along with his associates through illegal means in the country and abroad.
The department has raided 70 properties of Koda and his associates in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, Nasik, Ranchi, Chaibasa and Jamshedpur following allegations that he had amassed illegal wealth during his tenure as chief minister and minister for mines in the Arjun Munda government.
