Madhu Koda chargesheeted by ED

Ranchi : Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, who is facing a series of corruption cases, was chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday.

The chargesheet was filed by the ED at a special court in Ranchi, which said to contain details of its probe into Koda?s hawala transactions and role of his close associates Binod and Vikash Sinha.

On Oct 12 last year, an Income Tax report on election expenditure revealed Koda spent over Rs 9 crore as a candidate from Singhbhum in the last Lok Sabha polls.

The Election Commission of India’s permissible expenditure is upto Rs 25 lakh.

In Koda?s case, the I-T department found undisclosed expenditure of Rs 25.76 lakh which was paid to three media organizations in April 2009.

The IT department also found evidence of Rs 6.28 crore being distributed during the Lok Sabha elections.

There was also evidence of payment of Rs 55 lakh to the Deputy Mayor of Adityapur for distribution among ward commissioners during elections.

The tax department said one media organisation was used to fund paid news in local newspapers on behalf of Koda with Rs 1.25 crore being paid per month to a TV news channel.

Koda reportedly distributed two-wheelers and even four-wheelers to his supporters .

Two of Koda?s men bought 450 Hero Honda motorcycles in Jamshedpur for distribution, the report said.

On Aug 31, Koda was named among 29 others in an FIR filed by the state Vigilance Bureau accusing them of forgery and criminal conspiracy while awarding contracts to a Hyderabad-based company for rural electrification.

Inspector General of Police M V Rao said the FIR was lodged against them where besides the ex-chief minister, RJD leaders Girinath Singh and Prakash Ram and three former chairpersons of Jharkhand State Electricity Board were also in the list of accused persons.

The FIR alleged the persons named were the beneficiaries of a graft and other financial irregularities while awarding rural electrification contract to the Hyderabad-based company of Rs 467 crore in Palamau, Garhwa and Latehar.