As ED searches houses of Congress MLAs in Chhattisgarh coal levy case, CM Baghel says ‘attempt to divert attention’ from Adani row

Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the raids were “an attempt to divert attention”. “BJP is frustrated with the success of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and the truth of Adani being exposed,” Baghel said.

ED sources said they suspect Rs 60 crore was given to the MLAs and others linked to the Congress. Searches are underway after which names will be revealed, the sources added.

According to the ED, a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen was allegedly extorting a levy of Rs 25 per tonne for coal transported into Chhattisgarh. The proceeds of the crime, the ED alleged, were being used for “investing in benami assets, bribing officials to influence senior officers and also used by or on behalf of political executives of the state”.

We never feared Britishers, what is BJP: CM Baghel

Addressing a press conference Monday, CM Baghel said, “PM (Modi) does not speak about Adani which shows they are under pressure. The raids show they are scared of us. The Bharat Jodo Yatra has made them restless.”

He added that the searches had come ahead of the AICC’s plenary session in Raipur. “In four days we will have maha adeveshan. Everyone is working hard towards it. Whenever we take a major decision such things happen… The road map of 2024 is being made in this plenary meeting. They want to make this meeting unsuccessful. We strongly condemn it. Everyone knew they will do such raids before the meeting. They can try as much to disrupt it but instead, we will get more success. No one feels afraid of these raids. We never feared the Britishers, what is BJP?” Baghel said.

Hitting out at the probe agency, Baghel said, “The ED has a very bad performance. They have conducted 5,000 raids but barely in 35 raids, they could find something. Nearly a dozen places were raided in Chhattisgarh.”

How has the case played out so far?

On January 30, the ED had filed a chargesheet before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur against eight people, including Saumya Chaurasia, former deputy secretary to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in an alleged money laundering case linked to coal levy in the state.

Apart from Saumya, the other accused include her brother Anurag Chaurasia, alleged kingpin of the scam Suryakant Tiwari’s brother Rajnikant Tiwari, his mother Kailash Tiwari, mining officers S S Nag and Sandeep Kumar Nayak, and one Rajesh Choudhary.

The prosecution complaint runs into more than 5,500 pages and was filed in the court of 4th Additional District and Sessions Judge (Special Judge PMLA) Ajay Singh Rajput, ED’s counsel Saurabh Pandey told PTI.

On January 20, the court had denied bail to Saumya saying the investigation is underway. Saumya’s lawyer Faisal Rizvi said, “We will apply for bail again as the chargesheet has been filed now.”

Saumya was posted as Baghel’s deputy secretary when she was arrested on December 2 last year. She was produced before a PMLA court and remanded in ED’s custody. Subsequently, she was sent to judicial custody on December 14. In October last year, the ED had arrested three people – Chhattisgarh IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessman Sunil Agrawal of Indramani group and one Laxmikant Tiwari.

On January 12, the ED raided 16 locations across Chhattisgarh, including the residences of an IAS officer, some politicians and coal traders. Further probe is on in the case.

This is the second chargesheet in the case after the first one filed on December 9 last year against Vishnoi, coal trader Suryakant Tiwari, his uncle Laxmikant and businessman Sunil Agrawal as accused.

(With PTI inputs)