Rs.200 crore invested by Koda in Sweden traced, court told

A Rs.200 crore investment of jailed former chief minister Madhu Koda and his associates in Sweden has been located, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the Jharkhand High Court Tuesday.

"The ED submitted a status report on assets and money laundering cases of Koda and his associates. In the report, the ED said that they have located Rs.200 crore invested by Koda and his associates in Sweden," Rajiv Kumar, lawyer of petitioner Durga Oraon, told IANS.

Oraon filed the public interest litigation in 2008 against Koda and five ex-ministers seeking investigation into their assets.

Based on the petition, the high court sought a report from the Income Tax (I-T) department which raided houses of Koda and others in October 2009.

The ED filed separate money laundering cases against Koda and his associates. They are all in jail since November 2009.

According to Rajiv Kumar, the case would next be heard Feb 29.

The court Tuesday asked about the status of investigation by the state government into the assets of Jharkhand's Building Construction Minister Chandra Prakash Chaudhary.

"The court will take a decision regarding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Chaudhary in the next hearing,” said Rajiv Kumar.

The court also asked Jharkhand health secretary to get Koda and ex-minister Bhanu Pratap medically examined and submit a report, he said.