picture by Mukesh Bhatt



Binod Sinha sent to 10 days CBI remand
September 19, 2010

Vijay Deo Jha | Ranchi

Former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda’s close aide and co-accused in the Rs 4,000 crore money laundering scam; Binod Sinha, had obtained a fake driving licence in the name of Amit Yadav.

He used this driving licence as a document to travel across the country. The CBI while arresting Sinha on Wednesday in New Delhi seized the driving licence from his possession issued from Jharkhand. Sources in the CBI however refused to reveal the details of the driving licence.

“The agency strongly doubts Sinha used the driving licence to book tickets and only might have used it as identity proof while boarding the flight,” a source said, refusing to share details of the driving licence.

During the raid, the source said, the CBI seized a dozen hair wigs, artificial beards, moles and other cosmetic items. It only goes on to suggest that Sinha used makeup to hide his persona to evade his arrest. The CBI during the raid also found at least 16 SIM cards of different countries and several international calling cards. Besides the aforesaid things the CBI has also laid its hand on a diary.

Sinha who was arrested in New Delhi was brought to the State capital Ranchi on Saturday under tight security. Sinha was taken to the CBI headquarters where he was subjected to intense grilling for an hour. Later on he was produced before the court of Pankaj Kumar. Sinha was sent to 10 days CBI remand.

Public prosecutor Rakesh Prasad appeared on the behalf of the CBI while Pandey Niraj Roy argued on the behalf of Sinha.

Before producing Sinha before the CBI court in Ranchi the CBI had secured transit remand from the court of special judge AS Yadav from a Delhi court.

The court allowed the CBI to take the accused on transit remand, disregarding his contention that there was a stay on his arrest by the apex court as he failed to substantiate his arguments with documentary evidence.

In another development, the Supreme Court, on Friday; rejected the bail petition of Vikash Sinha, brother of Binod Sinha. Vikash was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged involvement in hawala and illegal transactions in a similar case, last year.

Vikash has been charged under Sections 409, 420, 465, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act by the ED.

A bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar upheld the decision of the Jharkhand High Court that had dismissed his bail plea sought on medical grounds.

The bench while terming the case as “serious in nature” observed that the accused can seek relief after three months.