VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, March 28: Bandhu Tirkey became the fourth cabinet minister of the erstwhile tainted Madhu Koda government who has been convicted in a disproportionate asset case.
The special CBI court of Prabhat Kumar Sharma in Ranchi on Monday convicted him of three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs three lakh for possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs 7.22 Lakh. This case RC 5 (A)/ 2010 dates back to the period when he was MLA from 2005 and 2009 and subsequently held the portfolio of the HRD for a brief period in the government led by Madhu Koda.
Earlier in December 2016, Harinarayan Rai, a former minister in the cabinet, was sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case by the special CBI court of B.K. Tiwari. While serving as an MLA and a minister in the Madhu Koda government, Rai amassed property worth Rs 1.46 crore, which was 94 percent in excess of his known sources of income. The next year, the special PMLA court in Ranchi sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs five lakh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court ordered to attach his properties worth Rs 3.72 crore.
In June 2018, Dulal Bhuiyan was convicted with rigorous imprisonment for five years with a fine of Rs 10 lakhs for possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs. 1.03 crores
Enos Ekka was another cabinet minister who was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment by a special PMLA court in Ranchi in connection with a money laundering case. He was convicted in April 2020. Besides, the court had imposed a fine of Rs two crore on Ekka.
PIL of Durga Oraon ensured CBI probe
In 2008, petitioner Durga Oraon filed a PIL before the Jharkhand High Court to seek a probe of the assets of the then chief minister Madhu Koda and his cabinet ministers. Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau, now Anti-Corruption Bureau, started a probe into 2008 against Koda and his then cabinet colleagues, including Rai, Enos Ekka, Bhanu Pratap Shahi, Kamlesh Singh, Bandhu Tirkey and Dulal Bhuiyan. Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Kamlesh Singh are still facing trial.
