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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint or chargesheet against former chairman of Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) Taman Singh Sonwani, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the then Chhattisgarh Chief Ministers Office Chetan Borghariya and others on charges of money laundering in connection with the alleged CGPSC recruitment scam.
The chargesheet has been filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the agency said on Wednesday. ED investigation was initiated on the basis of a First Information Report registered by the Raipur Economic Offences Wing and the Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with large-scale corruption, manipulation and irregularities in the CGPSC State Service Examinations, 2020 and 2021. Investigation of the predicate offence was subsequently taken over by the CentralBureau of Investigation, which registered an FIR against Sonwani and others and subsequently filed charge-sheets in the matter. ED investigation revealed that Utkarsh Chandrakar, nephew of K K Chandravanshi, a former personal assistant to former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, along with others, collected illegal gratification exceeding Rs 3 crore from various candidates of the CGPSC State Service Examination, 2021, on the assurance of providing question papers in advance and securing their selection by using their purported access to and influence in the then Chief Ministers Office. "Investigation further revealed that leaked question papers were provided to certain candidates prior to the examinations. Candidates were assembled at Siddhi Vinayak Marriage Palace, Raipur, prior to the Preliminary Examination, where the leaked question paper was distributed to them," said the agency. Subsequently, the ED said that candidates were accommodated at Barnawapara Sanctuary Resort, where coaching was imparted based on leaked question papers relating to the mains examination. ED investigation further revealed that Sonwani, while functioning as the Chairman of CGPSC, was involved in the manipulation of the recruitment process for securing selection of his relatives and other favoured candidates. During the investigation, the federal agency arrested Sonwani on July 25, Utkarsh Chandrakar on September 1 and Chetan Borghariya on September 11 this year, under Section 19 of the PMLA, 2002.Further investigation is in progress. Earlier, ED had also issued a provisional attachment order attaching movable and immovable properties worth Rs 47 lakhs belonging to Sonwani, Utkarsh Chandrakar, and others, representing Proceeds of Crime identified during investigation. (ANI)
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