Former Jharkhand Minister Anosh Ekka gets 7 years’ RI in money laundering case

Judge also imposes a fine of ₹2 crore on him

Anosh Ekka was involved in the laundering of about Rs. 20.32 crore.

Anosh Ekka, a former Jharkhand Minister, was on Thursday sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment by a special court in Ranchi in connection with a money laundering case .

The court of Special Judge Anil Kumar Mishra, which pronounced the sentencing via video conferencing, also imposed a fine of ₹2 crore on Ekka. Any default in fine will result in another year of jail.

“All the properties stand confiscated in the Enforcement Directorate’s favour. Two miscellaneous applications claiming rights over some properties stand disposed of,” said a senior ED official.

Ekka was the Minister of Rural Development in the Cabinet of the then Chief Minister Madhu Koda, from March 2005 to December 2008.

In March, the court convicted him for his role in the laundering of about ₹20.32 crore.

The State’s Vigilance Bureau registered a corruption case against Ekka and others in November 2008. It filed a charge sheet against him about a year later. Based on the case, the ED initiated investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Following the Jharkhand High Court’s order, the CBI later took over the case and filed another charge sheet in January 2012, alleging disproportionate assets worth ₹16.82 crore.

The ED identified assets worth about ₹20.32 crore and filed a charge sheet against Ekka and another former State minister, Hari Narayan Rai, in December 2009. Rai was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in January 2017.