Income Tax Department has conducted country-wide searches on properties owned by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda. The raid by the Enforcement Directorate follows a case against him for money laundering and diversion of state funds. The searches began early yesterday on nearly 60 properties located in Jharkhand, Bihar, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. The case against him and three of his ministerial colleagues relate to charges of making huge illegal investments abroad, including purchase of mines as far as in Liberia. Koda was chief minister of Jharkhand between February 2006 and August 2008. The other former ministers involved in the case are Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Bhandu Tirkey.<br/><br/>The Enforcement Directorate says, Koda has allegedly purchased mines in Liberia worth 8.5 crore rupees besides making purchases in the name of his close confidant Binod Sinha. The property brought in the name of Sinha reportedly runs into several hundred crore of rupees. 38-year-old Koda is the first former chief minister and high-profile politician to have been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.