Ex-Jharkhand Minister arrested by CBI in DA case

Former Jharkhand Minister Enos Ekka was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday in connection with a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case.

CBI sources said that he was arrested here. Ekka had not appeared in the CBI court despite repeated summons.

Ekka was a minister in the Madhu Koda government from 2006 to 2008.

A compliant was registered against him in the State Vigilance Department in 2009 for amassing assets exceeding his known sources of income.

Later the case was transferred to the CBI at the directive of the Jharkhand High Court.

In 2013, the CBI filed a closure report saying the assets were of small amounts. However, the CBI court refused to accept that closure report and asked the probe agency to proceed in the case.

Sources in CBI said that Ekka had disclosed Rs 60,000 cash and a Maruti vehicle in his name in the 2005 election declaration.

Between 2005 and 2009, Ekka purchased a flat worth Rs 8 crore in posh Vasant Vihar area in New Delhi. The payment for the flat was made by a private construction company, which was awarded the contract of stadiums of the 2011 national games in Ranchi.

There were also allegations that the former minister purchased 100 acres of land in the name of his relatives.

Ekka had won the Assembly poll for the first time in 2005. He lost the 2014 Assembly elections. At present he is part of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajantraik (JVM-P).

--IANS

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