ED attaches properties of 2 Chhattisgarh Congress MLAs in alleged coal levy scam

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party has roped in the ED after it failed to take on the Congress government on its own

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized 90 immovable assets, including luxurious vehicles, jewellery and cash worth over ₹51 crore belonging to Chhattisgarh Congress MLAs Devender Yadav, Chandradev Prasad Rai and party president Ramgopal Agarwal and others in the alleged coal levy scam on Tuesday.

The ED said that direct evidence of the financial linkages of the two Congress MLAs with businessman Suryakant Tiwari were established. (Representative Image)

The ED claimed that during the investigations, direct evidence of the financial linkages of the said persons with Suryakant Tiwari were established and assets created by layering of the proceeds of crime or equivalent assets have been identified for attachment proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Earlier in October 2022, ED attached the properties of coal trader Suryakant Tiwari, Chhattisgarh chief minister’s deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia (21 properties), IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi IAS (5 properties), Sunil Agarwal and others. They included cash, jewellery, flats, coal washeries and plots of land.

Reacting to ED’s action, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel asked the central agency to reveal what was recovered from each individual during raids on their premises. Baghel said that after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to take on the Congress government on its own it roped in the ED.

“I am saying it (ED) should tell how much it has seized from whom. How much have they recovered from our party workers Ramgopal Agrawal, Girish Dewangan, Sunny Agrawal, RP Singh and Vinod Tiwari? They should tell what they have recovered from Suryakant Tiwari, Saumya Chaurasia, Sameer Vishnoi and Sunil Agrawal ? From those who are businessmen and traders, they (ED) will definitely find money.. but the ED must tell what they have recovered from our party workers individually,” said Baghel on Tuesday.

“I welcome the ED’s press note which was released after my statement (on Monday). But it should at least tell what the agency has recovered from RP Singh, Ramgopal Agarwal and Vinod Tiwari separately”, he added.

Attacking the BJP, Baghel said, “ Raman Singh-led BJP ruled the state for 15 years (2003-2018)..A civil supply scam was unearthed during the previous BJP government. Why does the ED not probe corruption committed during the Raman Singh government ?”

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.