Coal levy case: ED raids at locations linked to Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh

A senior police official said the premises of some senior leaders, spokespersons and a legislator have been raided by ED and more details are awaited

The enforcement directorate (ED) on Monday raided locations in Raipur linked to eight Congress leaders and office bearers in a money laundering case linked to the alleged coal levy scam in Chhattisgarh.

Security personnel outside the residence of a Congress leader during a raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a mining case, in Raipur. (PTI)

This development comes days ahead of the plenary session which is scheduled to be held from February 24 to 26 with over 10,000 Congress functionaries and senior leaders set to participate in the event.

The ED searches are being undertaken in state capital Raipur and Durg district, a senior police official said.

“Premises of some senior leaders, spokespersons and a legislator have been raided by ED and more details are awaited,” said a senior police official.

According to people aware of the matter, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has called an emergency meeting of senior Congress leaders at his official residence at 10am.

Baghel will also address a press conference at 11am.

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 had first arrested IAS officer Vishnoi, businessman Sunil Agrawal who owns Indermani group and Laxmikant Tiwari, uncle of “absconding” businessman and kingpin 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).

Later, Tiwari was also arrested by ED and was present before court after questioning.

The ED in it documents submitted to the court termed it as a “mega scam”, it said the “genesis of the scam of generation of illegal money through transportation of coal was started once the Geology and Mining Department issued a notification on July 15, 2020, signed by Vishnoi in the capacity of director of geology and mining department”.

The ED had in a statement claimed that a “massive scam” was taking place in coal transportation in Chhattisgarh, under which a “cartel” of politicians, officers and others was allegedly running a “parallel system of extorting illegal levy”, which is generating about ₹2-3 crore daily.

The probe agency has claimed that the “main kingpin of this scam is Suryakant Tiwari and his associates who entered into a criminal conspiracy to run a parallel system of extorting illegal levy on coal and were doing illegal and unaccounted cash movement”.

On December 2, the ED arrested Chhattisgarh chief minister’s deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia in the case and alleged that Chaurasia ‘s WhatsApp chats retrieved by the income tax department revealed that she was sharing all the government’s confidential information with kingpin Tiwari who was not even attached to her office for any official work.