New Delhi: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda - who has been implicated in Rs 4,000 crore scam - has dared the Income Tax department and the Government to prove the charges against him. He has said that he is ready to quit politics if charges against him are proved.
"I will quit politics if investigation agencies prove that I invested in foreign countries or purchased land or mines in foreign countries. 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. ," he said.
A diary of Koda seized by the IT department reportedly names many Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders. "I will expose people who were instrumental in the raid," he said.
He has also denied that he had anything to do with an I-T official son's being beaten up earlier.
"Two days back an I-T official's son was attacked. I was blamed for that and I was not even there. I was in Ranchi," says he.
The former Jharkhand chief minister also claimed he was targeted because he had risen from a poor family and reached the level he had. "It's a conspiracy against me, and all because I come from a poor family. I am being framed," he stated.
Meanwhile, Koda made it clear he isn't submitting himself to interrogations in Delhi easily. He has written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), who had summoned him on November 15, telling them 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.
"Assembly elections in Jharkhand are round the corner and it is a fundamental right of any Indian citizen to contest elections. I told the Enforcement Directorate that after the elections, I will come wherever they call me," he stated.
"There is a conspiracy to keep me away from Assembly elections as people are jealous of my (political) growth," Koda told reporters in Chaibasa.
This latest ploy to escape questioning in the hawala scam is not likely to go down well with the ED. Koda is right now campaigning in Chaibasa and adjoining areas.
Koda is accused of amassing crores of rupees through hawala. I-T Investigators though have told the Ranchi High Court that they have seized only Rs 23 lakh in cash so far.
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