Raipur. The cunning manner in which businessman Suryakant Tiwari carried out the Rs 540 crore coal scam can be seen in the FIF lodged with the Anti Corruption Bureau of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). A total of 35 people have been named in the FIR along with scam mastermind Suryakant Tiwari, his associate Soumya Chaurasia, IAS Sameer Vishnoi, IAS Ranu Sahu. Also read: Chhattisgarh Congress: Names of these former ministers are also in discussion for Lok Sabha elections…
In the report filed by ED Deputy Director Sandeep Ahuja and Deputy Superintendent of Police Farhan Qureshi, information received during the investigation of money laundering in the coal levy scam has been cited in the report. Citing the arrest of 11 accused in the coal levy scam and confiscation of property worth Rs 222 crore, he said that during the investigation, many such crimes were found, which come under the jurisdiction of ACB and EOW. In the FIR, the facts revealed in the ED investigation were stated.
Modus operandi of coal levy scam
A syndicate was working to carry out the coal levy scam, in which on one side businessmen like Suryakant Tiwari were working, while on the other side IAS Ranu Sahu, Soumya Chaurasia and officials of the Mineral Department were involved along with political masters. ED said that Suryakant Tiwari, along with politicians and some top officials, got the then Director of Geology and Mining, IAS Sameer Vishnoi, to pass the order for manual system instead of online for transport permits. With this, a levy of Rs 25 per quintal started being taken for coal transportation in the state. Sameer Vishnoi could not give any logical answer to this notification. In such a situation, ACB needs to investigate the Mineral Secretary and those working under Vishnoi.
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ED said that investigation found how Soumya Chaurasia and IAS Ranu Sahu were involved in the extortion racket run by Suryakant Tiwari. Both of them posted agreeable officers of the Mineral Department in the coal mining area. With the help of these powerful and senior officials, Suryakant Tiwari started extorting money from coal transporters and other traders. As soon as the recovery system was established, a large amount of money started coming to the syndicate, which Surya Kant used to buy benami property. With this, a huge amount was transferred to Soumya Chaurasia for political funding. Investigation also found that money transactions between Soumya Chaurasia and Suryakant Tiwari were handled by Manish Upadhyay, a close aide of both.
method of recovery
ED told in its FIR how Suryakant Tiwari used to recover money. For this, Suryakant Tiwari had deployed his men to different areas. In this, Roshan Kumar Singh, Nikhil Chandrakar and Rajnikant Tiwari used to do recovery work in Raipur, Rahul Singh Surguja, Navneet Tiwari Raigarh, Parikh Kurre Bilaspur, Moinuddin Qureshi Korba, Virendra Jaiswal in Surajpur. These people were directly connected to the District Mineral Officer through WhatsApp. As soon as coal levy of Rs 25 was collected from coal transporters and traders, they used to send a message to the Mineral Officer for NOC. If the money was not paid, either the NOC was not given or it was kept pending. Many documents of such extortion were recovered in the raid at the house of Suryakant Tiwari’s brother Rajnikant Tiwari. At the behest of Suryakant Tiwari, Laxmikant Tiwari used to keep the huge amount recovered daily at his house and give it to officials and politicians. At the behest of Suryakant Tiwari, Nikhil Chandrakar used to take the money to the houses of officials and leaders.
Recovery from iron pellet manufacturers also
ED investigation found that Suryakant Tiwari’s syndicate, while taking the recovery from coal levy forward, also started recovery from the sale of iron pellets and DMF. The money received from all this along with the money received from coal levy was kept in the residence of Suryakant Tiwari in Anupam Nagar.
The role of these leaders and MLAs came to light
ED investigation found that Suryakant Tiwari’s extortion gang has obliged many leaders and MLAs. These leaders have been mentioned in the FIR along with the amount. Among these, the highest amount of Rs 52 crore was given to Congress Treasurer Ram Gopal Aggarwal, followed by Rs 3 crore to Bhilai Nagar MLA Devendra Kumar Yadav, Rs 1.10 crore to Shishupal Sori, Rs 2.01 crore to Congress spokesperson Ram Pratap Singh, Rs 1.87 crore to Vinod Tiwari, MLA Amarjeet Bhagat. 50 lakh, Chandradev Prasad Rai was given 46 lakh, Brihaspat Singh was given 10 lakh, Idris Gandhi was given 6 lakh, MLA Chintamani Maharaj was given 5 lakh, MLA Gulab Kamro was given 1 lakh and MLA UD Minz was given 50 thousand rupees.
Know how much amount was distributed to whom
ED’s interrogation of coal transporters, users and iron pellet manufacturers found that these people had no option but to pay money to the coal levy syndicate. Between July 2020 and June 2022, approximately Rs 540 crore was recovered. Out of this, Rs 170 crore was used in purchasing benami property, Rs 36 crore was transferred directly to Soumya Chaurasia through Manish Upadhyay and Jai. Rs 52 crore was given to Congress Treasurer Ram Gopal Agarwal. Rs 3 crore was given to MLA Devendra Yadav for Khairagarh by-election and other expenses. Sameer Vishnoi was given Rs 10 crore, IAS Ranu Sahu Rs 5.52 crore, Chandradev Rai Rs 46 lakh, Congress leader Ram Pratap Singh Rs 2.01 crore, Congress leader Vinod Tiwari Rs 1.87 crore, former MLA and leaders were given Rs 6 crore for election expenses. Apart from this, Rs 5 crore was sent to Jharkhand and Rs 4 crore was sent to Bengaluru. In this way, ED has given the account of Rs 296 crore, after which it is said that the remaining amount will be utilized.
Benami properties of Sameer, Ranu and Soumya seized
ED said in its FIR that on the basis of investigation, benami properties of government employees Sameer Vishnoi, Soumya Chaurasia and Ranu Sahu were seized. In this, five immovable properties, cash and jewelery of Sameer Vishnoi worth Rs 10 crore 42 lakh, 29 immovable properties of Soumya Chaurasia worth Rs 22 crore 12 lakh and 36 immovable properties of Ranu Sahu worth Rs 5 crore 52 lakh have been seized. ED said that the help of local ACB is required to investigate the property acquired by government employees with the help of coal levy syndicate, for which FIR needs to be registered.