Chhattisgarh: ED arrests IAS officer, two others in money laundering case

Chhattisgarh: ED arrests IAS officer, two others in money laundering case

ED began its investigation in a money laundering case linked with the alleged extortion from coal and mining transporters in the state by a nexus of state government officers, businessmen, and private companies

AVDHESH MALLICKUpdated: Thursday, October 13, 2022, 06:40 PM IST
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The sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after his interrogation in connection with a money laundering case. The IAS officer, identified as Sameer Vishnoi, is a 2009 batch of Chhattisgarh cadre and an alumnus of IIT Kanpur.

The central prosecuting agency also arrested two other businessmen in connection with money laundering, identified as Sunil Agrawal of the Indramani group and Laxmikant Tiwari.

All three were arrested from Raipur.

The arrests come following a search operation conducted by the ED in multiple cities in the state over the past few days.

Notably, IAS officer Vishnoi currently heads the Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society as a Chief Operating Officer. He is also the Joint Secretary of Electronics and Information Technology, Director of Geology and Mining, and Managing Director at Chhattisgarh State Minerals Development Corporation.

The ED began its investigation in a money laundering case linked with the alleged extortion from coal and mining transporters in the state by a nexus of state government officers, businessmen, and private companies.

Finally, in the case, ED teams carried out raids on residential and official premises of Raigarh Collector IAS Ranu Sahu, IAS JP Maurya, Coal trader Suryakant Tiwari, Congress leader Agni Chandrakar, CA Vijay Malu, Badal Makkad, Ajay Naidu, Sunny Luniya, IAS Sameer Vishnoi, RKTC Group, Rajkumar Agarwal, Ramu Jaiswal and others.

The raids were carried out at several locations in more than five districts across the state.

Hitting out at the Centre for the ED raids, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said, "As you know, BJP failed and felt incapable of countering us directly, so it is misusing central agencies."

Meanwhile, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Dr Raman Singh addressed a press conference in which he stated that CM Baghel is acting as an ATM for Sonia Gandhi. He alleged that the politician had been charging Rs 25 per tonne for coal transportation and that the state government district collectors were working as collecting agents for the Congress party. Dr Raman further warned them to beware of serious consequences if they continued.

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