RAIPUR: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its investigation into allegations of corruption and misuse of funds from the District Mineral Fund (DMF) a trust set up in all the districts of the state, funded by miners to work for the benefit of those affected by mining-related projects.
The agency on Thursday, October 17 arrested suspended IAS officer Ranu Sahu two days after it arrested Maya Varier, another woman officer of the Chhattisgarh government in connection with the same case. Following the arrest, a special court remanded a five-day custody of both the officials to ED.
ED’s investigation into the matter stemmed from separate FIRs registered by the Chhattisgarh police for siphoning off of the exchequer money by DMF contractors in collusion with officials of the state government and political executives.
According to the investigation agency, both IAS officer Ranu Sahu the then district collector of Chhattisgarh’ Korba district (between 2021-22) and Maya Varier the then Assistant Commissioner of Tribal Development Department, Korba, (Aug 2021 to March 2023) are prime accused in the case.
An organised system of collection of illegal commission from the vendors and contractors was being operated during the tenure of both the officials,” said the ED in a statement.
“Contractors have paid huge amounts in commission and illegal gratification to officials, which is to the tune of 25 per cent to 40 per cent of the contract value while cash used for payment of kickbacks was generated by the vendors and contractors using accommodation entries,” said the agency.
ED investigation has revealed that the DMF Fund allocated only to district Korba is more than Rs 1,000 crore from its inception till Financial Year 2022-23 and with the prevalent rate of commission, commission amount alone in Korba is to the tune of hundreds of crores.
Earlier, ED’s Raipur unit had carried out search operations in the case of government officers, vendors, contractors and accommodation entry providers in various locations in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra linked to the DMF scam which resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents, digital evidence, cash and bank balance and jewellery amounting over Rs 2.3 crore.
Who is suspended IAS Ranu Sahu
A cadre of 2010 batch, Ranu Sahu is also an accused in the alleged coal levy scam worth Rs 540 crore which is being investigated by the ED and other state agencies. Sahu was apprehended along with other accused in connection with the case in the year 2023.
She was also investigated by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Chhattisgarh police who has registered a fresh case against Sahu, along with former deputy secretary at Chhattisgarh CMO, Saumya Chaurasiya and IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi in connection with a case linked to accumulating assets beyond one’s capacity.
In the fresh case registered by the EOW, Sahu was reportedly booked under various provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act for acquiring properties worth Rs 4 crores by her and her family members within the years of her service. The agency had also conducted raids on premises linked to Ranu Sahu in Jharkhand in August this year.
Notably, ED began its investigation into the coal levy scam in October 2022 and claimed to unearth a multi-crore scam in which illegal levy of Rs 25 was extorted for every ton of coal transported in the state by a cartel of senior bureaucrats, coal businessmen, politicians and middlemen.
Based on ED’s investigation the EOW had also registered a case against as many as 35 accused including Saumya Chaurasia, IAS, Ranu Sahu, Sameer Vishnoi, Suryakant Tiwari, former minister and Congress leader, Amarjit Bhagat, Congress MLA, Devendra Yadav, former MLA Chandrika Prasad Rai and others in connection with the case in January this year.
