ED arrests Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's deputy secretary in coal extortion case
Soumya Chaurasia was placed under arrest by the ED after she was summoned for questioning by agencies several times in the past two months. She was taken for a health check-up after the arrest. Escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF, she was then taken to a local court.
FollowA top bureaucrat in Chhattisgarh on Friday has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering. The official has been identified as Soumya Chaurasia and she is designated as Deputy Secretary in Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel-led administration.
After the arrest, Chaurasia was transported for a health examination. She was then transported to a nearby court while being escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF. Sameer Vishnoi and two other individuals were arrested by the ED in October after searches were conducted in the case.
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The ED conducted search operations and made arrests under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002, in connection with a scam wherein an illegal levy of Rs 25 per tonne was allegedly extorted for each tonne of coal that was transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen politicians and middlemen.
In February 2020, there was also a raid on Chaurasia's house. The central agency's raid was described by the chief minister as "political retaliation" and as an effort to "destabilise" his government.
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On Sunday, Chhattisgarh CM Baghel issued a number of cautions to the central investigation agencies and accused the officers of using "violence and intimidation" while performing their jobs. The Chief Minister had stated, "We have learned about incidents of detaining people without informing local police, serving them summonses immediately, holding them without food or water until late at night, and threatening them with life imprisonment by ED officials." He said that complaints of ED and IT officials' resorting to violence were reaching him and the same was unacceptable.
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