ED raids on 8 Congress netas close to Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel in coal scam

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate Monday conducted fresh searches in Chhattisgarh on the premises of at least eight senior Congress leaders close to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel in connection with its ongoing money laundering case in the alleged illegal coal levy collection worth over Rs 500 crore.
The premises searched include those linked to Congress treasurer in the state Ramgopal Agrawal, party spokesperson R P Singh and MLA Devendra Yadav.

The searches came just a few days ahead of the scheduled Congress plenary session to be attended by the party's central leadership, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The agency has so far arrested nine persons in the case, including Saumya Chaurasia, a deputy secretary in Baghel's office, and attached assets worth Rs 170 crore as 'proceeds of crime' from the illegal coal levy scam.
The attached assets, according to ED, are benami properties of over Rs 7 crore of Chaurasia and those belonging to businessman Suryakant Tiwari and IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, among others. All the nine accused are still in judicial custody while the agency has expanded its investigation to other senior Congress leaders in the state for their alleged involvement.

"Investigation has established that proceeds of crime worth Rs 540 crore were acquired in this extortion racket. A systemic network of extortion was set up with the active connivance and participation of a large number of bureaucrats and higher powers," the ED said recently, hinting at questioning Congress politicians and ministers to unearth "the entire gamut of the extortion racket".
Beginning early Monday, ED teams raided at least a dozen premises of Congress MLAs Devendra Yadav (Durg) and Chandradev Rai (Bilaigarh), party leader Ramgopal Agrawal, chairperson of Karmakar Mandal Sunny Agrawal, Congress spokesperson R P Singh, housing board director Vinod Tiwari and chairperson of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation, Girish Dewangan.

Searches were simultaneously carried out on several addresses in Bhilai-Durg and Raipur. The brother of Congress MLA Devendra Yadav, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, was also raided.
Congress staged a protest by singing bhajans in front of Congress treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal's residence where ED sleuths are carrying out search operations.
Last week, ED had gone to the Korba collector's office to question mining department officials. Cases under PMLA in the 'coal scam' are already in court against some bureaucrats and businessmen.