Two Chhattisgarh ex-ministers among 8 Congress MLAs named in FIRs into coal levy, liquor scam cases

“Earlier (during Congress government in the state), the ED had submitted an application under section 66 of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) to the state of Chhattisgarh. Acting upon the same, the police has now registered an FIR,” said Saurabh Kumar Pande, the special public prosecutor for ED in Raipur.

Reacting to the FIRs, former CM and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel said, “For three years, ED and Income Tax have been investigating, and now they told the ACB to file FIR. When they were investigating it, they did not name Lakhma, Bhagat or two MLAs, Minj and Kamro. Are you at liberty to defame anyone at will? Today, suddenly, they name Congress leaders. This is a clear attempt to defame Congress leaders ahead of Lok Sabha elections.”

Baghel said that Minj’s name had not come up in any ED probe before and claimed that it was only added in the FIR because he contested against Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai.

Rebutting the ED’s allegations, Baghel said, “I have been asking ED through the media if the state exchequer suffered losses (under my term), then how come the excise department’s revenue increased every year as compared to the revenue during (former BJP CM) Raman Singh’s rule. Also, they (ED) claim Rs 2,200 crore was made in liquor case. Then how come until now, they could not recover more than Rs 200 crore after all the seizures. Similarly, in coal case, after two years they could not seize more than Rs 150 crore when they claim the scam was over Rs 500 crore.”

The FIR in the coal levy case was registered on January 17, in which a total of 35 people were named as accused. They were booked on charges of corruption, cheating and criminal conspiracy under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.

The ED has alleged that an illegal levy of Rs 25 was collected for each tonne of coal transported into Chhattisgarh in connivance with politicians and bureaucrats in the state. From July 2020 to December 2022, more than Rs 540 crore was allegedly collected in this manner, with part of the money going to Congress politicians, according to the ED.

Other Congress leaders named in the FIR are Ramgopal Agrawal, a former treasurer of the party, spokesperson R P Singh, and former housing board director Vinod Tiwari. Two IAS officers, Sameer Vishnoi and Ranu Sahu, both currently in jail, were arrested in the case.

All of them allegedly received kickbacks from the kingpin, Suryakant Tiwari, who allegedly acted in connivance with Saumya Chaurasia, a former deputy secretary to former CM Baghel. Both Tiwari and Chaurasia are in jail.

Most of the names of the accused had cropped up during the ED’s money laundering probe as well, and the ED has submitted a prosecution complaint (PC) and two supplementary PCs in a special court in Raipur in 2022 and 2023.

The FIR in the liquor scam case was registered on January 17, on charges of corruption, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.

In this case, according to the ED, a criminal syndicate, in connivance with excise officials, was extorting illegal commissions in the sale of liquor. They were also allegedly involved in the unauthorised sale of unaccounted liquor through government liquor shops. The syndicate is alleged to have amassed Rs 2,161 crore through the crime.

A total of 70 accused have been named in the FIR, as well as several unknown individuals. Lakhma, former excise minister and incumbent MLA of Kawasi, was also named as an accused, along with IAS officer Anil Tuteja and ITS officer Arunpati Tripathi. Allegedly, the main perpetrator in the case is Anwar Dhebar, brother of Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar. Several officials from the excise department have also been named as accused in the case. The ED had filed a prosecution complaint in the case last year.