Ranchi, Dec 1 (IANS) Former Jharkhand minister Kamlesh Singh was Tuesday jailed for 14 days in a corruption case, joining disgraced former chief minister Madhu Koda and two other ex-cabinet colleagues in prison.
Kamlesh Singh was arrested from Hussainabad in Palamau district Monday after a court issued an arrest warrant against him. He was brought to Ranchi Monday night.

On Tuesday, a vigilance court of Vinay Kant Khan passed the sentence against Kamlesh Singh, making him the fourth in the former cabinet of Koda to land in judicial custody.

The two others already in prison are Enos Ekka and Harinarayan Rai. All of them are lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail.

According to official sources, three more former Jharkhand ministers — Bhanu Pratap Sahi, Bandhu Tirkey and Nalin Soren — are also expected to be jailed on corruption charges.

Koda was the chief minister of Jharkhand from September 2006 to August 2008. An independent, the Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Rashtriya Janata Dal together propped him.

While at the helm of affairs, Koda reportedly swindled from the government treasury to build a huge personal nest for himself. He allegedly bought mines in foreign countries. Koda has denied charges of wrongdoing.

He is at the centre of a Rs.2,500-crore money laundering scam.

The Jharkhand vigilance department is expected to seek the remand of those in prison for interrogation.

The charges against them include siphoning of government money, cheating, amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of known and misusing their positions.

Their houses were raided July 24 and documents related to investments, land and jewellery were seized. From Tirkey’s house a revolver was found.

“We had to seek their arrest warrants as they were influencing the investigation,” Neyaz Ahmad, director general of the Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau, told reporters.

Ekka and Rai have been in jail since Aug 17. Their bail petitions have been rejected by the Jharkhand High Court.

The vigilance bureau had lodged first information report (FIR) against both in November last year. They were sacked from the cabinet by Chief Minister Shibu Soren in December last year. Arrest warrants were issued against them in June and they surrendered in August.

According to the chargesheet, Ekka and Rai own assets worth Rs.3.69 crore and Rs.1.19 crore beyond their known income.