New Delhi: A "close confidant" of bureaucrat Saumya Chaurasia, two mining officers, and an alleged conman who impersonated as an ED officer are among the four people arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the coal levy 'scam' of Chhattisgarh, an official statement said Saturday.
The ED arrested the four under the anti-money laundering law and a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur and sent them to the agency's custody till January 30, it said. The agency had conducted fresh raids in the case on January 13 in Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Pune which led to these four arrests.
Among those arrested is Deepesh Taunk, who, the ED said, is a "close confidant" of Saumya Chaurasia, a deputy secretary in the office of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, and a key accused. The agency claimed Taunk was "knowingly involved in money laundering." Chaurasia was arrested in the matter last year after the ED raided multiple people in October, 2022 and arrested Sameer Vishnoi, an IAS officer of the state, and some businessmen.
The investigation relates to "a massive scam in which an illegal levy of Rs 25 was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen," the agency has alleged. Two mining officers Sandeep Kumar Nayak (posted in Surajpur) and Shiv Shankar Nag (working in Korba) -- are also among those arrested this week and the agency alleged they "knowingly and willingly assisted the syndicate of Suryakant Tiwari (alleged main kingpin of the 'scam') in committing extortion and acquisition of the proceeds of crime."
The fourth to be arrested is Rajesh Chaudhary, allegedly a conman, who the ED said was "cheating people by claiming to work as a middleman to settle cases." "ED investigation has established that close family members of Sunil Agarwal (an accused arrested by ED in this case in October last year and currently in judicial custody) were making desperate efforts to secure the release of Sunil Agarwal.