RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh High Court has turned down bail plea of suspended IAS official Ranu Sahu, an accused in the multi-crore Coal Levy and District Mineral Fund (DMF) scam currently under custody. Sahu had filed an appeal before the Bilaspur High Court seeking bail on health grounds.
A single bench of Justice N K Vyas while rejecting Sahu’s counsel arguments observed that the appellant (Ranu Sahu) is directly involved in both the coal levy scam and the DMF scam and investigation in both the cases are underway.
The court’s denial of granting bail to Sahu has arrived almost a fortnight after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on October 17 arrested her in connection with 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.
Sahu was arrested two days after the ED apprehended Maya Varier, another woman officer of the Chhattisgarh government in connection with the same case.
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.
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.
Read more at: Chhattisgarh Coal Levy Scam: Suspended IAS Ranu Sahu to remain in custody in EOW’s disproportionate asset case……
Sahu is also being 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.
