Weeks after ducking summons in the Rs.2000 crore hawala scam, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda was on Monday arrested by the Vigilance Bureau in a disproportionate assets case and remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

Koda was arrested from his residence in Chaibasa in West Singhbhum district and his former ministerial colleague Kamalesh Singh from Husseinabad in Palamau district.

Thirty-eight-year-old Koda was remanded to 14 days judicial custody by the Special Vigilance Court.

"We have reached a stage when his arrest was necessary. We had taken the arrest warrant from a competent court," Inspector General of Police (Vigilance), M V Rao said.

Singh, who was a minister in four governments led by Shibu Soren, Arjun Munda, and Madhu Koda between 2005 and 2008, was arrested from Husseinabad after the summons by the vigilance court was were sent to the Superintendent of Police, Palamu, Jatin Narwal.

Koda's arrest followed his defiance of the Bureau's summons to present himself on November 27 in the disproportionate assets case.

He had evaded three summons by the Enforcement Directorate, one by the Income Tax department and one by the Vigilance bureau, saying he was busy campaigning for the Jharkhand assembly elections.

Hawala transactions

While BJP slammed the Centre for the "delayed" action, the Congress and the RJD said the law will take its own course.

Koda alleged that the action was to keep him away from electioneering.

Following the summons, Koda, an independent MP, wrote to the Vigilance Bureau saying he would appear only after the assembly elections concluded on December 18.

His arrest followed an ultimatum asking him to come before the Vigilance Bureau on November 27.

The Vigilance Bureau is investigating Koda's disproportionate assets case and the ED/IT are looking into the Rs 2000 crore hawala transactions and illegal investments allegedly involving him and his aides.

Assisted by the ED, the Income Tax department had on October 31 claimed that it had "clinching evidence" against Koda and his aides of alleged involvement in largescale hawala transactions and illegal investments.

Koda's close associates, Binod Sinha and Sanjay Choudhary, were absconding and arrest warrants have been issued against them by both the ED and the IT.

The ED had arrested Sinha's brother, Vikas, who is now in judicial custody.

Reacting to Koda's arrest, I and B Minister Ambika Sonia said in Delhi, "law is at work as we are committed to law.

Congress has zero tolerance towards corruption and there will never be any compromise on it.

RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta said, "law should take its own course and our party is in now way responsible for it".

BJP leader S S Ahluwalia said the arrest was delayed action on the party of the Government which was going slow on the issue because of a diary seized by the ED.