Former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda arrested

Currently an MP from Singhbhum, Koda was arrested around 12.30 pm by West Singhbhum SP Akhilesh Kumar from his Tundi Tola residence in Chaibasa, the district HQ town 200 km from Ranchi.

The arrest followed Koda’s failure to respond to the state vigilance investigation bureau’s second summons to appear before it on November 28 for interrogation, Kolhan range DIG Manoj Kumar Mishra told TOI.

Koda has also ignored as many as three notices from the Enforcement Directorate to appear before it on November 11, 15 and 19 for interrogation.

The ED has been probing charges of money laundering involving Rs 5,500 crore by Koda during his 23-month tenure as state CM.

Then an Independent MLA, Koda headed the state UPA government from September 2006 to August 2008. The MP, who once worked as a daily wager, is also accused by the ED of having indulged in corrupt practices as mines minister in the Arjun Munda-led BJP’s coalition government from August 2005 to September 2006.

A correspondence-course BA from Utkal University in Orissa, 39-year-old Koda recently formed a political party, Jharkhand Navnirman Morcha. The Morcha has fielded six candidates in the Kolhan region. They include his wife Geeta Koda who is in the fray from Jagannathpur, an assembly segment which the ex-CM used to represent.

A part of the Singhbhum parliamentary constituency, Jagannathpur, 90 km from Chaibasa, is the Kodas’ ancestral place.

Official sources said Koda would be produced in the vigilance court in Ranchi, a three-hour drive from Chaibasa, either on Monday or Tuesday.