<p>New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said a part of the Rs 540 crore "extortion" money generated from an alleged illegal coal levy scam in Chhattisgarh during the previous Congress government was used to fund election-related expenses and "bribe" politicians and bureaucrats.</p>.<p>The federal probe agency said in a statement that it has attached assets worth a combined Rs 2.66 crore of Soumya Chaurasia, a suspended state administrative service officer who was deputy secretary in the Chhattisgarh CMO, and another person as part of a money laundering investigation into these allegations.</p>.<p>A total of eight immovable properties, land parcels and residential flats, have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).</p>.19-year-old woman raped by 5 men, including driver of police vehicle, in Chhattisgarh; 2 detained.<p>These properties were "acquired" by the accused in the case-- Chaurasia and Nikhil Chandrakar-- in the names of their relatives from the proceeds of crime generated from the "illegal" collection of coal levy and other extortion activities, the federal probe agency said in a statement.</p>.<p>The combined value of the attached assets is Rs 2.66 crore, it said.</p>.<p>The case pertains to charges that a group of private individuals, in active connivance with senior politicians and bureaucrats of Chhattisgarh, formed a "racket" to "extort" money from coal transporters at the rate of Rs 25 per tonne during July 2020-June 2022.</p>.<p>The agency alleges that Rs 540 crore was "illegally" collected by the syndicate.</p>.<p>The Congress had rejected the charges and claimed political conspiracy in these charges made against its government.</p>.<p>"The extorted cash was used to bribe government officials and politicians, fund election-related expenses, and acquire movable and immovable assets," it alleged.</p>.<p>Chaurasia, known to be a powerful bureaucrat in the government of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, and ten others were arrested by the ED in this case. She later obtained bail from the Supreme Court.</p>.<p>The agency has filed five chargesheets in this case till now naming 35 individuals and companies.</p>.<p>The money laundering case stems from a 2022 FIR of the Bengaluru Police, a chargesheet filed by the Income-Tax Department in 2023 and a complaint filed by the Chhattisgarh economic offences wing/anti-corruption bureau (EOW/ACB) in 2024. </p>
<p>New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said a part of the Rs 540 crore "extortion" money generated from an alleged illegal coal levy scam in Chhattisgarh during the previous Congress government was used to fund election-related expenses and "bribe" politicians and bureaucrats.</p>.<p>The federal probe agency said in a statement that it has attached assets worth a combined Rs 2.66 crore of Soumya Chaurasia, a suspended state administrative service officer who was deputy secretary in the Chhattisgarh CMO, and another person as part of a money laundering investigation into these allegations.</p>.<p>A total of eight immovable properties, land parcels and residential flats, have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).</p>.19-year-old woman raped by 5 men, including driver of police vehicle, in Chhattisgarh; 2 detained.<p>These properties were "acquired" by the accused in the case-- Chaurasia and Nikhil Chandrakar-- in the names of their relatives from the proceeds of crime generated from the "illegal" collection of coal levy and other extortion activities, the federal probe agency said in a statement.</p>.<p>The combined value of the attached assets is Rs 2.66 crore, it said.</p>.<p>The case pertains to charges that a group of private individuals, in active connivance with senior politicians and bureaucrats of Chhattisgarh, formed a "racket" to "extort" money from coal transporters at the rate of Rs 25 per tonne during July 2020-June 2022.</p>.<p>The agency alleges that Rs 540 crore was "illegally" collected by the syndicate.</p>.<p>The Congress had rejected the charges and claimed political conspiracy in these charges made against its government.</p>.<p>"The extorted cash was used to bribe government officials and politicians, fund election-related expenses, and acquire movable and immovable assets," it alleged.</p>.<p>Chaurasia, known to be a powerful bureaucrat in the government of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, and ten others were arrested by the ED in this case. She later obtained bail from the Supreme Court.</p>.<p>The agency has filed five chargesheets in this case till now naming 35 individuals and companies.</p>.<p>The money laundering case stems from a 2022 FIR of the Bengaluru Police, a chargesheet filed by the Income-Tax Department in 2023 and a complaint filed by the Chhattisgarh economic offences wing/anti-corruption bureau (EOW/ACB) in 2024. </p>