The Income Tax (IT) department on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary, close associates of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who is faced with charges of laundering Rs 2,500 crore.
"We have issued arrest warrants against Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary and asked the concerned police station to arrest them and produce them before us," said Ajit Srivastava, additional director of investigations in the IT department.
"Vinod Sinha's lawyer appeared before us, requesting that they (the lawyer) should be allowed to be present when Sinha appears before us," he added.
On Oct 9, the ED filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Koda, three more former ministers as well as his associates Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary. Vikas Sinha, brother of Sinha, was on Nov 6 sent to ED custody for 10 days.
According to sources, Vikas has admitted to sending Rs.40 crore abroad for Koda.