Saumya Chaurasia, Chhattisgarh CM's Deputy Secretary Gets Arrested

The Enforcement Directorate, or ED, has detained a senior official in Chhattisgarh on suspicion of money laundering. The ED detained Saumya Chaurasia, the deputy secretary to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, for four days.

The ED apprehended Saumya Chaurasia, Bhupesh Baghel's deputy secretary in Chhattisgarh. Read more to know the details.

Chhattisgarh Deputy Secretary Arrested

After the arrest, Chaurasia was sent for a health examination. She was then taken to a nearby court while being escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF.

The ED detained Sameer Vishnoi and two other individuals in October after raids were conducted in the case.

According to the reports, the money laundering investigation, which was started after the ED took note of a complaint by the income tax department, is related to an alleged scam in which a cartel made up of senior bureaucrats, business executives, politicians, and middlemen extorted an illegal levy of 25 per tonne from every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh.

In February 2020, there was also a raid on Chaurasia's house. The chief minister described the central agency's raid as "political revenge" and an attempt to "destabilise" his government, says the reports.

Baghel said in tweets last week that detained businesspeople and officials were being beaten with rods by the ED and income tax officers.

Reportedly, the Chief Minister had stated that they had learned of incidents involving ED officials detaining people without notifying local police, summoning them immediately, forcing them to sit in the murga position, detaining them without food or water until late at night, beating them with rods, and threatening to imprison them for life. During interrogations, he suggested that ED personnel record them on camera.

Baghel stated that while organisations like the ED and I-T department should pursue legal action against individuals involved in corruption and welcome it, the manner in which unlawful actions are exposed as part of their investigations is in no way acceptable.

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