Chhattisgarh illegal coal levy scam: ED files charge sheet against Saumya Chaurasia, others

RAIPUR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed charge sheet against Saumya Chaurasia, who was posted as deputy secretary in Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's office, and seven others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the illegal coal levy scam.
In its 178-page charge sheet with more than 5000-page annexures, the central agency has also listed Anurag Chaurasia, a relative of Saumya Chaurasia, businessman Suryakant Tiwari's mother, Kailash Tiwari, and brother, Rajnikant Tiwari, as accused in the illegal coal levy scam case.The charge sheet also names mining deputy director Shivshankar Naag, mining officer Sandeep Kumar Nayak, property dealer Dipesh Tankh and one Rajesh Choudhary among the list of accused. Though Anurag Chaurasia, Kailash Tiwari and Rajnikant Tiwari have been named in the charge-sheet, the ED has not arrested them so far.
IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessman Suryakant Tiwari, Saumya Chaurasia, Sunil Agrawal, Laxmikant Tiwari and other accused are already in judicial custody after their arrest by the enforcement directorate.
Meanwhile, ED said in a statement in New Delhi that it has attached 51 properties, including eight Benami immovable assets worth Rs 7.57 crore of Saumya Chaurasia in the alleged coal levy extortion scam. Besides, the central agency has also attached 43 benami properties belonging to the businessman and coal mining kingpin Suryakant Tiwari, it said adding that the total value of 51 properties was estimated to be worth Rs 17.48 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate had earlier attached assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of the two accused and a few others. With the latest action, the total value of attached properties in this case stands at about Rs 170 crore.
According to the ED, the coal levy scam involves an alleged extortion racket 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 had earlier maintained that the proceeds of the crime involved more than Rs 500 crores and it was investigating the entire gamut of the racket.