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Chhattisgarh IAS officer suspended
The Chhattisgarh government has finally suspended state agriculture secretary Babu Lal Agrawal for amassing disproportionate assets.
The Chhattisgarh government has finally suspended state agriculture secretary Babu Lal Agrawal for amassing disproportionate assets.
Last Thursday, the Income Tax Department had raided 7 premises and business establishments owned by Agrawal, his relatives and chartered accountant friend Sunil Agrawal.
Director General (Investigation) of Income Tax Department Brijesh Gupta told HT that around Rs 40 crore was deposited in 220 bank accounts that were traced to Sunil. Of that, cash deposits amounted to Rs 22 crore, while the rest was deposited in cheques. The money was routed to a business establishment, Prime Ispat Limited, owned by some relatives of the 1988-batch IAS Officer.
Gupta said, “We are preparing a detailed report on our findings and will hand it over to the state government by weekend.”
Explaining Agrawal’s deception, Gupta said, “We found the passbooks from the chartered accountants’ offices. Many of the accountholders shown were residents of Kharora village.”
The villagers of Kharora, 35 km east of Raipur, demanded action against the accused.
Ashok Amlani, president of Kharora Nagar Panchayat, said, “The villagers are innocent and were kept in the dark by Alok Agrawal.” Alok, who allegedly organised opening of the 220 bank accounts in villagers’ names, is Sunil’s cousin.
