Jharkhand CID issues alert to arrest Koda's aides

The Jharkhand Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Thursday sounded an alert to various state and district police chiefs to arrest Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary, associates of former chief minister Madhu Koda who is facing charges of laundering Rs.2,500 crore.

The alert has been sounded following the issuance of arrest warrants by the Income Tax department against Sinha and Chaudhary Wednesday.

"On Thursday, we have sounded an alert to the police chiefs of the concerned states and the Jharkhand districts police chiefs to arrest Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary," Additional Director General of Police (CID) G.S. Rath told IANS.

He added: "The alerts to arrest both were circulated at the request of the IT department."

The IT department had Nov 2 asked Vinod Sinha, Sanjay Choudhary, Devendra Mukhiya, Basant Bhattacharya, Manoj Punamiya and Anil Bastawde to appear before it by 11 a.m on November 6.

None of them, however, turned up. Enforcement Directorate (ED) then issued an alert to all airports in the country to prevent any one of them from fleeing the country.

The IT department again asked them to appear before it by Nov 11. When Sinha and Chaudhary failed to appear, the IT department issued arrest warrants against them.

Devendra Mukitya and Basant Bhattacharya appeared before the IT department in Ranchi, and Manoj Punamitya appeared in Mumbai. On Wednesday Rakesh Kumar, a friend of Vinod Sinha, appeared before the IT department in Ranchi.

The ED has already arrested Vikas Sinha, the brother of Vinod Sinha, who according to sources, has admitted to sending Rs.40 crore abroad for Koda.

On Oct 9, the ED filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Koda and his associates.

Koda's interrogation also continued Thursday.

Koda had allegedly purchased and distributed 600 motorcycles and 25 to 30 four-wheelers to distribute among his supporters during the Lok Sabha elections held in April-May this year.

Last updated on Nov 12^th, 2009 at 16:43 pm IST--IANS