Rs 500 Cr Cash Haul As ED Busts Coal Extortion Racket in Chhattisgarh; Houses of IAS Officers Raided

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday recovered a total of Rs 500 crore of ‘illegal money’ including Rs 4 crore in cash, unaccounted jewellery and gold during raids at the premises of senior government officials in Chhattisgarh in an alleged extortion racket case, sources told CNN-News18.

The probe agency said the government officials were running an extortion racket in which illegal levy was being imposed and Rs 25 per tonne was collected from coal suppliers. ED officials collected more than Rs 500 crore worth of illegal money during the searches. Rs 4 crore in cash and incriminating documents were also seized from the offices and residences of senior IAS officers, sources said.

Earlier in the day, the ED was conducting raids premises of senior officials, businessmen and politicians of the ruling Congress at various locations in Chhattisgarh, PTI news agency reported. Separately, raids were also been conducted in Raipur, Raigarh, Mahasamund, Korba and other districts.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel termed the raids an “act of intimidation” and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing Central agencies in the State. “The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not able to fight directly, hence it is trying to fight through the ED, Income Tax (I-T) department and the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI),” Baghel said.

Last month, the IT department conducted raids at the premises of businessmen associated with steel and coal businesses. Similar raids conducted by the IT department in June-July this year covered the premises of coal businessman Suryakant Tiwari and a government officer posted in the Chief Minister’s Office.

Read all the Latest News India and Breaking News here