The raids occur in advance of the Congress’ three-day plenary session, which will take place in Raipur, the state capital, on February 24-26. The party led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is in power in the state.
As part of an ongoing probe into the coal levy money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at several places in Chhattisgarh on Monday, including at facilities connected to Congress party leaders, according to sources.
The raids occur just days before the Congress party‘s three-day plenary meeting, which will take place in Raipur, the state capital, from February 24–26. The party led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is in power in the state.
Searches have reportedly been going on since this morning at more than a dozen locations, including those of Devendra Yadav, an MLA in Bhilai (Durg district), Ramgopal Agrawal, the treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, Sushil Sunny Agrawal, the chairman of the Chhattisgarh State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, and RP Singh, the party’s state spokesperson, in Raipur.
Other leaders of the ruling party were also targets of the raids.
They claimed that the ED is looking into people who were “beneficiaries” of the alleged coal levy scheme that was carried out while the current administration was in power.
Sushil Anand Shukla, the chief of the state Congress communication wing, blasted the BJP for conducting raids, saying that the opposition was abusing the central agency to disrupt the 85th plenary session of the Congress, which was set to take place in Raipur.
He asserted that the BJP abuses central agencies like the ED and CBI if it is unable to defeat its political adversaries.
At 11 am, the Congress will hold a gherao outside the ED office in Raipur as a show of protest.
According to the source, the subject of the ED inquiry is “a major scam in which an unlawful charge of 25 was being extorted for every tonne of coal moved in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businesses, politicians, and middlemen,”
It has so far detained nine people in connection with the matter, including Saumya Chaurasia of the state administrative service, Suryakant Tiwari, his uncle Laxmikant Tiwari, Sameer Vishnoi of the Chhattisgarh cadre of the IAS, and Sunil Agrawal of another coal business.