The Income Tax (IT) Department sealed some rooms and almirahs at the Ranchi residence of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, embroiled in the alleged hawala transaction and illegal investments running into crore of rupees, even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) served summons to him at the hospital where he is admitted.

Tax department officials said the searches are still on and they had issued prohibitory orders after sealing the properties of Koda and his associates across the country.

The prohibitory orders are issued under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act whenever any property or material is seized by the department.

A team of ED officials which reached Ranchi on Tuesday have taken possession of documents relating to alleged hawala transaction surfaced during the IT searches.

The former Jharkhand Chief Minister and seven of his associates, facing charges of money laundering, have been summoned by the ED for questioning on alleged hawala transactions and investments, the officials said.

They said the summons were served to Koda yesterday at the hospital in Ranchi where he was admitted following complaints of high blood pressure and stomach ache.

Both the ED and the Income Tax department have started scrutiny of the documents related to alleged hawala transactions and investments running into more than Rs 2,000 crore by Koda and his associates, they said.

The Income Tax department, which is carrying out search operations in Ranchi and Mumbai even today, was collecting information and documents sent by various directorates of the IT department from Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, Nasik, and Jamshedpur.

ED to Investigate Illegal Accounts in Foreign Nations

The ED will probe the Hawala transactions and illegal accounts of Koda in other countries after IT searches gave the agency new leads in this direction.

Sources in the Directorate said the documents which surfaced after the tax department's searches have indicated a new destination of money transactions by Koda and his associates.

However, the names of these countries where the money had been parked are yet to be identified, they said.

"The probe is on. Further information on hawala transactions to other countries will take some time to unravel," sources said.

Till now, the enforcement agencies claimed to have found properties worth crore of rupees linked to Koda and at least eight other of his associates in the country and abroad, including in UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Liberia.

The ED had earlier filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (equivalent to an FIR) before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Ranchi against Koda, his cabinet colleagues Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Bhandu Tirkey besides five others.

Javed Akhtar, Public Relations Officer of the Abdur Razzak Memorial Weavers' Hospital, where Koda is admitted said, "His stomach ache is under control and blood pressure has come down."