New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two aides of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda-- Manoj Punamiya and Arvind Vyas-- in a case of alleged illegal investments and hawala transactions.
The ED sent the duo today to Ranchi where they will be produced before a court. They were arrested here yesterday.
Sources alleged that Punamiya and Vyas, who are believed to have invested and routed illegal money during the tenure of the former chief minister, had carried out transactions within the country and abroad.
They were arrested as they had not been cooperating with the ED regarding their business deals, they said. ED officials have also confronted them with certain documents related to the stock market, sources said.
The ED, according to sources, has found that Punamiya had allegedly routed money through bullion markets for purchasing properties in Dubai and other Middle-Eastern countries.
The sources said the duo will also be made available for questioning to the CBI which has lodged separate FIRs against Koda and six of his former cabinet members for allegedly indulging in corruption.
The ED and the Income Tax department are investigating alleged illegal investments and hawala transactions made by Koda and his other associates.
The CBI has lodged separate FIRs in Ranchi against former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, six of his former cabinet members and two of his aides on corruption charges, a week after the high court asked the agency to take up the investigation.
The CBI registered two FIRs in a special CBI court on Wednesday, agency sources said.
The first FIR was filed against former Rural Development Minister, Enos Ekka and former Urban Development Minister, Harinarain Rai while the second was filed against Koda, former Water Resources Minister, Kamlesh Singh, former HRD Minister, Bandhu Tirkey and former Health Minister, B P Sahi.
Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhry, alleged aides of Koda, are among those chargesheeted The court's direction followed a PIL filed by social activist, Durga Oraon, who sought a CBI probe into the disproportionate assets allegedly owned by Koda and his former cabinet colleagues during their ministerial tenure.
The Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department are separately investigating alleged illegal investment and hawala transactions against Koda and others.
On October 9, the ED had filed an FIR against Koda and some others. On October 31, the Income Tax officials conducted raids in the premises of Koda and his aides. PTI
