Former Jharkhand CM Koda booked for money laundering

NEW DELHI: Popular wisdom holds that political instability is antithetical to prosperity. Well, not for all. Jharkhand presents an example where lack of political stability was allegedly exploited by a group of legislators led by former chief minister Madhu Koda to fatten themselves.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday slapped charges under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the former Jharkhand CM and three of his former Cabinet colleagues for allegedly amassing assets running into several hundred crores ��� between Rs 700-800 crore according to the preliminary estimate.
Koda, the first Independent to become chief minister and now a member of Lok Sabha supporting UPA government, has been charged with having business interests of diverse kinds ��� cement, steel, auto, power, agro and tourism. His alleged investments, estimated at Rs 300-400 crore, are just as widely spread ��� from Singapore to Thailand to Dubai to Liberia.
His former colleagues who have also been booked under PMLA include Bhanu Pratap Shahi, Bandhu Tirkey and Kamlesh Singh.
Though they did not prosper the same way that Koda did, the trio, according to ED, made personal fortunes ranging from Rs 20 crore to Rs 50 crore in times of uncertainty.
While Koda was not available for comment, Tirkey said he had been hearing these allegations for a year now but no one had come forward to prove them. ``I am giving the ED one week to come out with evidence or I will file a defamation case against them,'' Tirkey retorted.
Shahi said it was a conspiracy against him. ``This is being done to finish us politically,'' he told TOI.
While Shahi and Singh carried tags of political parties ��� Forward Bloc and NCP ��� they for all practical purposes were their own masters.
Theirs is a story of bold political entrepreneurship. They milked their success in the 2005 Jharkhand state polls. The election threw up a hung House, enabling them to play the kingmaker with remorseless agility. Shibu Soren, who was controversially sworn in as chief minister of Jharkhand when he lacked majority support, had to resign when the group refused to rescue his aspirations.
They helped Arjun Munda of BJP become the chief minister and were rewarded with `plum' portfolios as part of the deal. The arrangement, however, did not last long. The group ditched the BJP after the UPA agreed to propel Koda to chief ministership. Others in the group, naturally, held on to their portfolios.
The tenure was marked by allegations of widespread corruption, particularly allegedly dubious decisions on mining leases to big industrial houses and non-governance of a scale which put paid to the hopes with which Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar.
Later on, with the stink rising to embarrassing levels, Congress wanted to dissociate itself from the arrangement, but allies RJD and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha prevailed.
The import of allegations of the ED begin to sink in deeper when two other factors are considered. First, the last five years have seen Maoists rapidly expanding their influence in Jharkhand, turning huge swathes into ``liberated Red zones''. Also, the office of the governor, expected to be a buffer against arbitrariness, also came under a cloud, with CBI raiding two close aides of Syed Sibte Razi.
The move of the ED is sure to be seen through a political prism because of Congress's anxiety to distance itself from the Jharkhand mess before the coming elections.
Koda was elected to the Jharkhand assembly for the first time in 2000 from Jaganthapur in Singhbhum district on a BJP ticket and served in the Babulal Marandi government. He quit BJP in 2005 and was elected as an independent MLA. That is when his fortune changed.
The ED has alleged that properties in the name of a tractor mechanic, Binod Sinha, who acted as a frontman for Koda, was valued above Rs 200 crore. The mechanic also owned an iron sponge mill worth Rs 18 crore situated in Chandil in Jamshedpur, another rolling mill worth over Rs 13 crore and two flats in Jamshedpur. His empire in India was spread across a dozen-odd companies with diverse business interests in sectors like steel, cement, cars, infrastructure, agro products and tourism.
Koda's other frontmen managed his business interests in Dubai, Thailand and Singapore besides a mine in Liberia worth $17,00,000. Koda's declaration under oath when he fought as an MLA in 2005 was, however, just around Rs 13 lakh.
Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap and Bandhu Tirkey each of them owned huge immovable properties spread across various cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.