IT noose around Kooda tightens further

New Delhi, Nov 2 (PTI) The noose around former Jharkhand
Chief Minister Muadhu Koda tightened further with India's
Income Tax department claiming to have unearthed documents
that suggested he had allegedly sent Rs 560 crore abroad
through hawala.
IT sources claimed Monday that Koda had allegedly amassed
over Rs 2,000 crore along his associates through illegal means
in the country and abroad for which 110 million dollars (Rs
560 crore) were transferred out through hawala operations.
Searches were conducted at 65 premises of Koda and his
associates in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, Nasik, Ranchi,
Chaibasa and Jamshedpur in the wake of allegations of that he
had amassed illegal wealth during his tenure as the Chief
Minister and Minister for mines.
The hawala amount includes more than 100 million dollars
sent to Dubai to a person identified as Abdul Bhai, the
sources said. Other hawala transactions included sending of 10
million dollar to Dubai and two Million USD to Thailand
through Arvind Vyas.
The evidence for the IT department claims regarding
these transactions surfaced during the search operations at a
residence of an alleged Koda associate Lalit Jalan in India's
commercial hub Mumbai.
The department has also found illegal deposits in Bank
accounts and transactions in cash and cheques involving three
companies in Mumbai through an hawala operator Manoj Punamia
who was a director in these companies.
The minister's Personal Assistant A K Srivastava, the
sources said, has also declared about Rs six crore investment
in illegal purchase of land. PTI