ED raids 3 departments of Chhattisgarh govt in coal levy scam

Chhattisgarh police officers said that the ED officers have reached the offices in Indrawati Bhawan in Nava Raipur and search in these offices are going on.

Earlier on Monday, the ED raided premises linked to eight Congress leaders after which the party launched a protest.

The raids came days before the 85th plenary of the Congress’ central decision-making body, which is due to be held in Raipur from February 24 to 26.

Over 15,000 delegates will join the plenary to discuss the political situation, economy, foreign policy, agriculture, employment, social justice, etc, and set the tone for the Congress’ 2024 national poll campaign.

Terming the raids as politically motivated , Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is misusing central agencies to crush the voices of political opponents.

Earlier, the ED’s chargesheet mentioned that an illegal levy of ₹25 per tonne was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in the state by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen.

The ED first arrested Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessman Sunil Agrawal, who owns Indermani group, and Laxmikant Tiwari, “absconding” businessman and  Suryakant Tiwari, after it launched multi-city raids in the state on October 11.

The three have been arrested under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).