Chhattisgarh Coal Levy Scam: Properties Worth Rs 51.40 Crore Attached By ED

RAIPUR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday announced that it has attached 90 immovable properties, luxury vehicles, jewellery and cash amounting to around Rs 51.40 crore, from seven people including an IAS officer and two MLAs, in relation to “illegal” levy on coal transportation in Chhattisgarh.

The ED announcement comes one day after Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel flayed the central agency, saying it found nothing in the coal levy case and the liquor scam story has been fabricated.

Baghel had also claimed that the ED is the BJP’s political agent.

“We have attached 90 immovable properties, luxurious vehicles, jewellery and cash worth Rs 51.40 crore belonging to Ranu Sahu, IAS, Suryakant Tiwari, Devender Yadav, MLA Chandradev Prasad Rai, MLA R P Singh, Vinod Tiwari, and Ram Gopal Agarwal in connection with the illegal coal levy extortion scam in Chhattisgarh,” an ED spokesperson said

“During the investigations, direct evidence of the financial linkages of the above persons with Suryakant Tiwari were established and assets created by the layering of the proceeds of crime or equivalent assets have been identified for attachment proceedings into a money laundering case,” the spokesperson further added.

ED had initiated an investigated into the case in October 2022, after it raided the residences of IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi and some businessmen. The central agency later arrested them along with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s then deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia. The ED had claimed that officials and politicians in the state were involved in a Rs 2-3 crore per day illegal levy on coal transportation.

Earlier, ED had attached properties belonging to Suryakant Tiwari, IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, Saumya Chaurasia, Sunil Agarwal, and others worth around Rs 170 crore. The attachments in this case has touched a total amount of around Rs 221.5 crore.

“ED has initiated a money laundering investigation based on the FIR lodged on the complaint of the Income Tax Department. Searches at more than 145 premises have been conducted and so far nine accused persons have been arrested under PMLA. All of them are in judicial custody,” the spokesperson added.

He further went on to say that the ED probe has established that proceeds of crime worth Rs 540 crore were accruing in this extortion racket.

The ED revealed that those named in the probe were involved in a massive scam in which an illegal levy of Rs 25 per tonne was allegedly being extorted by a nexus involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians, as well as middlemen.

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