ED raids premises of senior officials, businessmen in Chhattisgarh; Congress says it won't get scared

The ED raids are in connection with connection with an alleged Disproportionate of Assets (DA) case

The Enforcement Directorate raided the premises of senior officials, businessmen and politicians of the ruling Congress at different locations in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, sources said.

Separate teams of the ED started conducting the raids in the morning in state capital Raipur, Raigarh, Mahasamund, Korba and other districts, they said.

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The raids covered premises of district collector, some senior officials, businessman and politicians of the ruling party, they said without elaborating. Chhattisgarh Congress communication cell chief Sushil Anand Shukla said he had an apprehension that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would misuse central agencies in the state as it was unable to fight a political battle (with the ruling party).

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had also expressed the apprehension many times, Shukla said. If the action is taken as per law then there is no problem, he said.

"But, the BJP is misusing the central agencies across the country to create pressure," he claimed, adding that this is condemnable. "The Congress party will not be scared of such malpractices. We will fight them. We will expose them before the public," Shukla said.

Last month, the Income Tax Department had conducted raids at the premises of businessmen associated with steel and coal businesses. Similar raids conducted by the I-T 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.