Chhattisgarh coal levy case: ED issues eviction orders, takes possession of assets

The ED investigation relates to allegations of “a massive scam in which an illegal levy of ₹25 was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has issued eviction orders and taken “possession” of assets worth more than ₹152 crore as part of a money laundering investigation into an alleged illegal coal levy case.

ED has taken possession of 81 immovable properties and issued eviction notices in respect of ten immovable properties. (Representative file image)

These 91 properties, including movable and immovable assets, belonging to former Chhattisgarh government bureaucrat Saumya Chaurasia, IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, coal trader and prime accused in the case Suryakant Tiwari and others were attached by the federal probe agency in December last year under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“Accordingly, ED has taken possession of 81 immovable properties and issued eviction notices in respect of ten immovable properties in accordance with the PMLA (taking possession of attached or frozen properties confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2013,” the statement said.

The Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA, after giving an opportunity to all the defendants and hearing arguments of both sides, confirmed the attachment order on June 1, the ED said in a statement.

These assets which include flats, jewellery, coal washeries and plots, are “beneficially owned” by Chaurasia, Vishnoi, Suryakant Tiwari and another coal trader Sunil Agarwal, it said.

Nine people, including Chaurasia, Suryakant Tiwari, his uncle Laxmikant Tiwari and Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, have been arrested by the ED.

The ED in a statement had 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 who along with his associates entered into a criminal conspiracy to run a parallel system of extorting illegal levy on coal and were doing illegal and unaccounted cash movement”.

In December 2022, the ED arrested Saumya Chaurasia in the case and alleged that her WhatsApp chats retrieved by the Income Tax Department had revealed that she was sharing the government’s confidential information with Tiwari who was not attached to her office for any official work.