After almost two months of hiding, former Ranchi Mayor Rama Khalkho on Tuesday finally surrendered before the special court (Vigilance) here. Khalkho, accused of trying to influence voters by money in the civic elections, was sent to judicial remand till June 12.
The case had been lodged against her among others after a sum of Rs 21.9 lakh was seized by the police from a hotel room in Ranchi ahead of the municipal elections on April 8.
Khalkho has been absconding after a warrant of arrest was issued against her on April 9 by a Ranchi court following an FIR lodged against her and was wanted by the police in this connection. The former Mayor, after exploring all avenues to save her from the threat of attachment of property to be issued against her on Tuesday, surrendered before the special court (vigilance) of ARK Sinha.
"I was not absconding…..since the legal process was going on and an order of attachment of property was to be issued today…….I decided to surrender before the court," said Khalkho while she was being taken to the jail. She, however, said she had full faith in the judiciary and would be proved innocent during the trial. As orders on the attachment of property had already been passed by the court, Khalkho along with her husband and four other associates reached the court premises around 12 noon and surrendered before the court. Her advocate Nitya Nand Sinha explained to the court that her surrender was delayed due to vacations in the Jharkhand HC where two petitions filed by her are yet to be heard.
Khalkho waited in the court till the formalities of the court were completed at 12:35 pm. The court asked her age and sent her in judicial custody till the date already fixed for hearing on June 12 after signing on the surrender papers.
Khalkho, who had joined the Congress just before the Ranchi Municipal Corporation elections, also failed to turn up before the Income Tax department, which had also summoned her on April 18 for interrogation in the "cash for vote" case. Two others, Niranjan Sharma and Sudhir Kumar Sahu have already been arrested in this connection on April 7. The mayoral elections were scrapped later by the State Election Commission on the basis of reports of rigging in the Mayoral elections submitted by the Ranchi Police and Income Tax department.