Chhattisgarh: Court extends ED custody of IAS officer, two others in money laundering case

Additional district and sessions judge Ajay Singh Rajput extended the remand of IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessman Sunil Agrawal and one Laxmikant Tiwari.

Raipur: A special court in Raipur on Friday extended by six days the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of an IAS officer and two others in a money laundering case linked to the alleged extortion of money from coal and mining transporters in Chhattisgarh. Additional district and sessions judge Ajay Singh Rajput extended the remand of IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessman Sunil Agrawal and one Laxmikant Tiwari.

The alleged accused were produced before the court on the expiry of their eight-day ED custody, Tiwari's lawyer Faizal Rizvi said. The defence lawyers opposed the ED's plea of remand extension, he said. The ED, on October 13, had arrested Vishnoi, Agrawal and Tiwari, the uncle of "absconding" coal businessman Suryakant Tiwari, after it launched multi-city raids in the state on October 11.

The trio was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). As per case details, Vishnoi, a Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer of the 2009 batch, was working as the CEO of the Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society. Laxmikant Tiwari, a lawyer from the Mahasamund district, is the uncle of coal businessman Suryakant Tiwari whose properties were also covered during searches.

The probe agency also carried out searches at Laxmikant's residence in Mahasamund town. Sunil Agrawal, the director of Indramani Group involved in coal trading, is said to be closely associated with Suryakant Tiwari. He has been in the coal business for over a decade and allegedly has links with senior politicians.

In a release issued on October 14, the ED had claimed that a massive scam was taking place in coal transportation in Chhattisgarh, under which a cartel of politicians, officers and others was allegedly running a "parallel system of extorting illegal levy", which is generating about Rs 2-3 crore daily. The probe agency alleged that Vishnoi and his wife were found in possession of unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 47 lakh and 4 kg of gold jewellery.

The money laundering investigation was launched after the ED took cognizance of a complaint by the Income Tax department. The ED claimed that the main kingpin of this scam is Suryakant Tiwari (stated to be absconding) and his associates, who entered into a criminal conspiracy to run a parallel system of extorting illegal levy on coal and were doing illegal and unaccounted cash movement.

The agency had said it has seized unaccounted cash of Rs 4.5 crore, gold jewellery, bullion and other valuables worth around Rs 2 crore during the raids. The ED raids also covered the premises of two other IAS officers Raigarh collector Ranu Sahu and her husband JP Maurya, the director of the geology and mining department in the state.