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Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached 51 immovable properties worth Rs 17.48 crore approximately in the illegal coal levy extortion scam in Chhattisgarh.
According to the ED statement, the attached properties include eight benami immovable properties worth Rs 7.57 crore which are beneficially owned by Saumya Chaurasia, Deputy Secretary to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The remaining 43 benami properties are beneficially controlled by Suryakant Tiwari. ED had previously issued a Provisional Attachment Order on December 9, 2022 attaching properties worth Rs 152.31 crore belonging to Suryakant Tiwari, Sameer Vishnoi IAS, Saumya Chaurasia, Chhattisgarh Civil Service Officer, Sunil Agarwal and others. In total, ED attached assets to the tune of approximately Rs 170 crore till now. The ED initiated the money laundering investigation based on the FIR filed on the complaint of the Income Tax Department. Searches have been conducted and, so far, nine accused persons have been arrested under PMLA. All of them are in judicial custody. The ED investigation has established that proceeds of crime worth Rs 540 crore were acquired in this extortion racket. A systemic network of extortion was set up with the active connivance and participation of large number of bureaucrats and higher powers. The ED said it was investigating the entire gamut of the extortion racket. (ANI)
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