Ranchi, November 3
As raids continued on his premises, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, who is being grilled by the Income Tax officials in connection with alleged hawala transactions, was today admitted to a hospital here after he complained of high blood pressure and stomach ache.
The I-T officials, who have accused Koda of non-cooperation in the investigations, are ascertaining whether his complaint of illness was a ruse to duck further questioning.
“He was admitted to hospital around noon after he complained of some ailment. He is in the intensive care unit. The doctors are attending on him and only after getting the pathological report can we say anything about the ailment,” a spokesman of the Abur Razzak Memorial Weavers Hospital said.
One of the doctors attending on him said Koda was discharged from the hospital a week ago after being treated for a kidney ailment. “Today, he came complaining of stomach ache and his blood pressure was high,” the doctor said, adding a series of tests were being conducted on him.
Koda, 38, is being questioned by I-T officials in connection with alleged huge hawala transactions and illegal investments. The officials claimed to have unearthed documents showing that Koda had sent Rs 560 crore abroad through the hawala route.
Meanwhile, Director-General (IG-Investigation) Anjani Kumar, when asked if Koda was cooperating with the I-T officials, said: “Not much. If I get proper support and cooperation, the investigation will conclude soon.”
The raids began on Saturday on 70 places in nine cities across the country, including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, with the I-T department claiming to have found evidence of hawala transactions and illegal investments running into more than Rs 2,000 crore.
The I-T department also set
a November 6 deadline for six of Koda's alleged aides to appear before them "to explain certain transactions and events" with a warning that if they failed to do so, they were liable for legal action.
Binod Kumar Sinha, a close aide of Koda, is among six persons against whom the deadline for appearance has been set. Both Koda and Sinha were booked by the Enforcement Directorate, which had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to an FIR, in connection with hawala transactions a fortnight ago.The officials alleged that Koda had also made an investment through his associates in the government-sponsored rural electrification programme in Uttar Pradesh and earned a profit worth Rs 30 crore.
Koda's assets, estimated at a whopping over Rs 4,000 crore, include hotels and three companies in Mumbai, a hotel in Thailand and a coalmine in Liberia.
