Cornered in Chaibasa, Koda puts up defiant face

Tracked down to his home town of Chaibasa after again trying to evade questioning by the income tax department and the enforcement directorate (ED), Madhu Koda, the former Jharkhand chief minister accused in a Rs4,000 crore mining scam, again put on a defiant face today, saying the money laundering charges against him were a "political conspiracy".

He said he would cooperate with the probe into the charges and quit politics if they were proved. "This is a political conspiracy as people don't want me to succeed as an independent legislator," Koda, now a Lok Sabha MP, said.

"I'll leave politics forever if charges against me are proved. People are jealous of my rise in politics. All these allegations are baseless. No one can digest the fact that a tribal, a poor man can reach this stage. I'll name my conspirators at the right time," Koda said.

Income tax investigators have been questioning him on and off from 31 October in connection with alleged hawala transactions and illegal investments after they conducted raids in 70 premises across the country. He explained his latest disappearance from his house in the state capital saying his father was sick and he had no time to inform the authorities.

The ED has issued fresh summons to Koda, the third in a week, to appear before it in the state capital of Ranchi on 19 November. Earlier the ED had served him summons on 13 and 15 November.

But Koda has made it clear that he will have to be dragged to New Delhi if he is to be interrogated there. He has written to the ED to say that he is busy with the election campaign in Jharkhand and that he will present himself at the ED offices only after the elections are over.