Ranchi, Nov 2 (IANS) Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, languishing in prison on charges of money laundering, was Wednesday slapped with yet another charge — ‘instigating’ inmates in Ranchi Jail, where his hand was fractured during police action, officials said.
The state government has replied to the home ministry’s query on the episode.
Koda, now in hosptal with a fractured hand, was allegedly leading a protest inside the jail Monday to demand better quality food for himself and other inmates.
‘We have responded to the home ministry’s query on the Madhu Koda case,’ state Home Secretary J.B. Tubid told IANS.
He, however, did not divulge the details of the report.
A first information report (FIR) has also been lodged against Koda for ‘instigating’ the prisoners, a police officer said.
Koda has alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him in jail.
Talking to a local news channel at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) here, Koda said: ‘There was a conspiracy to kill me. I was beaten up by jail policemen and when I fell on the ground, they hit me with batons on my chest.’
‘I was taken to hospital three hours after the incident. I was sitting on dharna due to the poor food being given to prisoners. When I was sitting on the dharna, the policemen started beating me,’ he added.
Koda also said he had lodged a complaint against jail officials through his wife Geeta, who is a state legislator, but it was not converted into an FIR.
Earlier Wednesday, a delegation led by union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, the Lok Sabha member from Ranchi, which also included Koda’s wife, met Governor Syed Ahmad and sought a probe into the incident.
Chief Minister Arjun Munda has announced a probe by a retired judge.
Koda has been in jail since November 2009 in a Rs.4,000 crore money laundering scam. He and four former ministers of his cabinet are kept in a VIP cell of the jail here.
He is the Lok Sabha member from Singhbhum. An Independent member of the state assembly, he was the chief minister September 2006-August 2008.
