AFTER a brief lull, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on early Monday conducted massive search and seizure operations on 13 specific locations, including top echelons of Congress party in Chhattisgarh, as part of its extended probe into the multi-crore coal levy money-laundering case. In all, the searches covered 10 premises in Raipur, one each in Bhilai and Bilaigarh whereas another in Kharora, some 40 kilometers from the State Capital. The searches led to seizure of unaccounted cash and gold valuables worth several lakhs, whose quantification is yet to be done. Additionally, laptops, smart phones (multiple android and iphones) and heaps of incriminating documents were also seized.

The fresh crackdown is aimed at tracing the money trail of nearly Rs 62 crore out of total Rs 540 crore, which was extorted through illegal levy on coal transportation by the notorious cartel led by Suryakant Tiwari, ‘abetted and aided’ by Saumya Chaurasia, the suspended Deputy Secretary of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

Coincidentally, the ED swoop comes close on the heels of a three-day plenary session of Congress party slated to commence from February 24-26 in Raipur. “Residential and office premises belonging to upper echelons of Congress party and their relatives including Durg MLA Devendra Yadav, his elder brother Dharmendra Yadav, Bilaigarh MLA Chandradev Rai (presently parliamentary secretary), Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) Treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal, Chairman of Chhattisgarh State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (CSBOCWWB) Sushil Sunny Agrawal, state Congress spokesperson R P Singh, Chairman of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC) Girish Dewangan, CPCC Accountant Devendra Dadsena and few others have been covered under the search,” an ED official told ‘The Hitavada’.

According to the official, the ED in its second prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed on January 30 against eight people including Saumya Chaurasia, had maintained that the federal agency was investigating the fund trail of Rs 540 crore scam, wherein a sum of Rs 52 crore was paid to a senior politician of a political party, in addition to Rs 4 crore paid to MLAs in Chhattisgarh and another Rs 6 crore paid to ex-MLAs and politicians.

“In all, Rs 62 crore were paid to certain individuals from the scam money and the today’s search ops is aimed at tracing this fund trail as to from where it originated, via which channels and mediums it made its transit before reaching its final destination,” he explained and added further that the searches would continue for another day as the preliminary investigation has led to unearthing of credible evidence leading to incriminating financial trails linked with scam. The official also claimed that the federal agency already has in its possession credible evidence including hand-written entries of diaries, WhatsApp chat conversations and other forms of digital evidence to substantiate grounds for the fresh search and seizure operations linked with the scam which ran for more than two years and was happening throughout the State.

Sources affirmed that some 55-odd ED sleuths, escorted by a 100-plus squad of armed men and women troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), took part in the concurrent search operations that commenced at 6 am in the morning. “ED officials from neighbouring states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were also roped in to assist the local ED officials in carrying out the massive crackdown, spread far and wide in Raipur and Durg districts, respectively. At a few premises, the ED sleuths had to encounter resistance where some Congress party workers tried to stall the federal agency from carrying out the searches. However, they were controlled by the armed CRPF personnel and ED officials,” the sources added. Moreover, in Raipur and Bhilai, Congress party workers and leaders resorted to anti-ED sloganeering and sit-in demonstrations at multiple locations where the searches were under way. No untoward was reported till the filling of this report. It is pertinent here to mention that the second prosecution complaint spanning over 5,500 pages, apart from naming Saumya Chaurasia, had also mentioned her brother Anurag Chaurasia, Suryakant Tiwari’s brother Rajnikant Tiwari, his mother Kailash Tiwari, mining officers S S Nag and Sandeep Kumar Nayak, and one impostor Rajesh Choudhary. The complaint was filed in the court of 4th Additional District and Sessions Judge (Special Judge PMLA) Ajay Singh Rajput. Nine persons, including state administrative service officer Saumya Chaurasia, Suryakant Tiwari, his uncle Laxmikant Tiwari, Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi and another coal businessman Sunil Agrawal have been arrested till date in the case.