The enforcement directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at multiple places in Chhattisgarh, including that of an IAS officer, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal levy scam in the state.
The searches were undertaken in state capital Raipur, Korba, Durg and Ranchi in Jharkhand and Bengaluru, officials claimed.
Premises linked to the IAS officer and his wife were also searched in Bhilai and Raipur.
The bureaucrat is a 2004 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who had earlier served as the secretary of mineral resources department.
The officer is the fourth bureaucrat of Chhattisgarh who has been raided by ED in the last four months in the alleged coal levy scam.
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On Friday, the ED raided a few other businessmen and coal traders in Raipur and Korba.
The name of the IAS officer surfaced in the ED’s chargesheet submitted on December 9,2022.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on Friday about the ongoing raids in Chhattisgarh, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the agency is destabilising the government.
“The ED will remain here till the upcoming elections because the BJP has nothing against our government and they are defaming our government through these raids,” said Baghel .
On the other hand, BJP spokesperson and senior leader Ajay Chandrakar said, “If nothing has happened, why is Baghel repeatedly accusing the ED? He should do his work as the agency is doing its job only.”
The ED’s chargesheet mentioned that an illegal levy of ₹25 per tonne was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in the state by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen.
