RAIPUR: A special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody for Saumya Chaurasia, the deputy secretary-rank officer posted in the Chhattisgarh chief minister’s office (CMO), till December 10.
After completion of her four-day ED remand, Soumya was produced before the special (PMLA court) judge Ajay Singh Rajput, who further extended her custody for four days after the ED sought more time for further custodial interrogation.
Chaurasia was earlier arrested by the central agency on Friday last on money laundering charges, alleging that she was accused of working in close association with the main accused Suryakant Tiwari in an alleged illegal coal levy scam, the Enforcement Directorate officials had said.
A 2008-batch state administrative service officer, Saumya has been a deputy secretary at the CMO ever since the Congress government, headed by chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, came to power in December 2018. She is said to wield considerable clout in the administration.
Enforcement Directorate officers had questioned Saumya Chaurasia on several occasions in the last two months before arresting her on December 3.
After her arrest chief minister Bhupesh Baghel tweeted registering his objection, “As I had been saying, Enforcement Directorate arresting my deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia is a political move and we would fight against it with all our might.”
The other four persons accused in the PMLA case including IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessmen Suryakant Tiwari, his uncle Laxmi ant Tiwari and Sunil Agrawal, were also present at the special court on Tuesday and the court extended judicial custody till December 10.
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