Raipur: A special court on Monday extended the remand of Deputy Secretary in Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's office, Saumya Chaurasia till January 13. Chaurasia was produced in the court through video conferencing. The senior bureaucrat was arrested on December 2, 2022, by the ED in connection with a money laundering case.
Then the ED produced Saumya in the court, where the judge granted a four-day remand on the ED's application. After the remand period ended, the ED produced Soumya again in court on December 6. During this, the ED had sought a 14-day remand from the court for questioning, but the court had granted only a four-day remand.
Also read: Chhattisgarh suspended bureaucrat's judicial remand extended
On December 10, the ED once again produced Saumya in court. Citing that the inquiry was not completed, the ED again asked for a remand of six days, but the court granted a remand till December 14. After this, along with sending her on judicial remand till December 19, the date of appearance was fixed for January 2. On Monday, Chaurasia was produced in the court through video conferencing.
It may be recalled that on October 11, the Enforcement Directorate conducted simultaneous raids in several districts of the state. Soumya Chaurasia was suspended followed by the raids. Suspended IAS Sameer Bishnoi, businessmen Suryakant Tiwari, Laxmikant Tiwari and Sunil Aggarwal were arrested under the suspicion of their involvement.
