Koda watches, reads news in jail, quietly

Sanjay Ojha, TNN 10 December 2009, 08:52pm IST

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RANCHI: Former Jharkhand chief minister
 Madhu Koda spent time in jail like any
other prisoner of the Birsa Munda Central
 Jail at Hotwar here.

Allegedly involved in illegal investments
 and hawala transactions worth Rs 4,000 crore,
Koda remained confined to his room in the upper
 division ward where he was lodged around 7 pm on Monday.

An MP from Singhbhum, Koda was on Monday noon arrested
from Chaibasa by the state vigilance bureau in connection
 with a disproportionate assets (DA) case. He was later
forwarded to 14 days' judicial custody by a vigilance
court in Ranchi.

The Hotwar jail's VIP ward has eight rooms.

Three are occupied by Koda's former cabinet colleagues
Enos Ekka, Harinarayan Rai and Kamlesh Kumar Singh who are
 facing trial in DA cases in the local vigilance court.

Unlike the trio who regularly complain of ill health and
high blood pressure, Koda was normal. "His behaviour was
 normal and he did not try to create a scene like his former
 cabinet colleagues," said a jail official.

Koda woke up around 6.30 on Tuesday morning.
He later watched news on local TV channels and also
went through newspapers.

He was then examined by jail doctors. Reports of all the tests,
 including blood pressure test, were normal, said jail
superintendent Deepak Vidyarthi.

After the medical examination, Koda returned to his room.
Unlike other high- profile undertrial prisoners, he had no
visitors during the day. Late in the afternoon, some of his
 supporters came to meet him.

Meanwhile, the vigilance bureau has initiated the paper
work for taking him on remand for interrogation.
"Maybe tomorrow we will move the court seeking Koda's remand,"
DG (vigilance) Niaz Ahmed said on Tuesday.
Source:TOI-Ranchi