Ranchi, August 30: The Special CBI Court in Ranchi on Saturday sentenced former Jharkhand minister Anosh Ekka, his wife Menon Ekka, former Ranchi LRDC Kartik Prabhat, and several others to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in a 15-year-old illegal land deal case linked to violations of the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act.
The order came a day after the court had convicted all the accused for flouting CNT Act provisions to illegally purchase and sell tribal land.
On Saturday, the quantum of sentence was pronounced when the convicts were produced before the CBI court via video conferencing. Special Public Prosecutor Priyanshu Singh represented the CBI during the trial.
Investigations revealed that during his tenure as a minister, Anosh Ekka abused his office and used fake addresses to acquire tribal land with the help of then LRDC Kartik Prabhat. Large-scale transactions were carried out in collusion with administrative staff and officials.
In other’s name, multiple parcels of land were purchased between March 2006 and May 2008 — including 22 kathas in Hinoo, 12 acres in Ormanjhi, 4 acres in Newari, and 9 decimals in Siramtoli (Chutia).
The CBI successfully proved the charges in court, securing convictions against all the accused.
Along with imprisonment, the court also imposed fines on all convicts, warning that failure to pay would lead to an additional one-year jail term.
Notably, this marks the fourth conviction for Anosh Ekka, who has already been found guilty in three separate cases earlier — the para-teacher murder case, a money laundering case, and a disproportionate assets case.
