Ranchi, September 16: The vigilance department of Jharkhand will seek help from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the assets of a former chief minister as well as other ex-ministers.
The vigilance department has submitted a detailed status report of progress made in investigating the assets of former ministers to the Jharkhand High Court. The report was submitted Tuesday.
The vigilance department has said that some of the accused were not cooperating with the department in the investigation.
“In the status report, we have informed the court that CBI help would be sought in the investigation. We have mentioned that some of the people accused in the case have a business outside the country. Only the CBI can help us in the probe outside the country,” a source in the vigilance department said.
Two different cases have been lodged against former chief minister Madhu Koda and five former state ministers. In one case, two former ministers Enos Ekka and Harinarayan Rai face graft charges and are in judicial custody. In the second case, Koda and three former ministers, Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Sahi and Bandhu Tirkey, have been charged.
The vigilance department raided Koda’s house, along with the homes of three other ministers, July 24 after a graft case was lodged against them.
In its report, the vigilance department has said that the seized laptops and documents were being analysed by the department.
“The investigation of graft cases of former chief minister and other ministers are not an easy task. They have a large network and it will take several months to unearth assets amassed by them. They have amassed assets in the name of distant relatives and establishing their links will not be an easy task,” a source in the vigilance department said.
-Agencies