The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at various locations in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, related to the coal levy money laundering case. The ED officials searched the office of Congress leader Ram Gopal Agarwal at Gore Complex under the Civil Lines police station and the residence of industrialist Kamal Sarda at Shankar Nagar. The ED’s move is a part of its ongoing probe in connection with the case.
Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, criticized the raids, stating that no section, including industrialists, businessmen, transporters, MLAs, officers, and farmers, has been spared from the central government’s raids led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bhupesh also questioned the BJP and the central agencies for not conducting raids at Adani Group of Industries, which saw a decline of 60 percent in the assets after the Hindenburg report.
Earlier in February, the ED had arrested nine people, including the deputy secretary of Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Saumya Chaurasia, in connection with the case. The raids took place ahead of the Congress party’s four-day long plenary session in Raipur from February 24.
In a separate incidence of ED raids in January, the agency had conducted searches at multiple premises in Chhattisgarh, including that of an IAS officer, and other locations in connection with an ongoing money laundering probe.
It remains to be seen how the investigation progresses and whether more individuals will be implicated in the case.
