ED on its way,giddy Koda in hospital

Three days into the nationwide raids to unearth the assets of the former Jharkhand chief minister and his associates,Madhu Koda...

Three days into the nationwide raids to unearth the assets of the former Jharkhand chief minister and his associates,Madhu Koda on Tuesday morning complained of a pain in his abdomen,giddiness,nausea and vomiting and was admitted to the ICU of the Apollo Hospital here.

Doctors treating him said the MPs condition was stable and he was under constant observation. We are studying his reports, Apollo Superitendent Dr P D Sinha told the Indian Express. In fact,on October 22 Koda had undergone a surgery at the Apollo to remove a kidney stone.

With Kodas hospitalisation,the Income Tax wont be able to question him,at least for a few days. During interrogation over the past three days,the former CM had admitted that he knew Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Choudhary,while refusing to admit there were any financial deal between them. I have not concealed any property. I do not know about the others, Koda is learnt to have told the I-T sleuths.

On Monday,I-T Director GeneralInvestigation Anjani Kumar had told newsmen that Koda was not cooperating with them. This is hampering inquiry. Had he cooperated,the search operations would have stopped by now, Kumar had said. The I-T Department also set a November 6 deadline for six of Kodas 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.

Meanwhile,an Enforcement Directorate team left Delhi for Ranchi to obtain documents on alleged Hawala transactions carried out by Koda and his associates. The team will gather material evidence and documents seized by the I-T Department and source information from the records of the tax searches against Koda and others,official sources said. The ED had registered a case against Koda on October 9 for alleged money laundering,diversion of state funds and making huge illegal investments abroad. With PTI