Raipur: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on December 16 arrested Saumya Chaurasia, a former OSD and deputy secretary of ex-Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in connection with the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam case amounting to more than Rs 3000 crore, as claimed by the investigative agencies.
Chaurasia, who is also an accused in multiple other alleged scams was summoned by ED on Tuesday and subsequently taken into custody after quizzing at around 6pm in the evening. ED’s current investigation into the case stems from an FIR registered by the state’s anti-corruption agency.
Chaurasia, a 2008-batch officer is likely to be produced before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Wednesday.
Earlier in October Chaurasia was also chargesheeted by the Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB) of Chhattisgarh in connection with a case of disproportionate assets.
In the 8000 page chargesheet filed by EOW, the agency has accused Chaurasia for allegedly amassing assets and investments more than 18 times higher than her known sources of income.
The agency during its investigation found Chaurasia’s assets and investments to be worth Rs 49.69 crore which is nearly 18 times higher than her regular income of Rs 2.52 crore during her 17 years of service as a government employee.
Investigation into the case revealed that Chaurasia allegedly made heavy investments in real estate by buying properties on the names of her relatives and other individuals between 2019 to 2022. She reportedly purchased at least 45 immovable properties across multiple cities including Raipur and Durg.
Reports suggest that this, probably is the largest case of disproportionate assets against a government employee in the state.
ED arrested Saumya Chaurasia in connection with a money laundering case linked with Rs 540-crore alleged coal levy scam in December 2022. She was granted conditional bail by Supreme Court in September this year. Other than coal levy scam and disproportionate asset case, Chaurasia was also named in misuse of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund case.
Chhattisgarh liquor scam case
The multi-crore liquor scam was first unearthed by ED which claimed that the irregularities flourished in the tenure of the then Congress government in the state resulted in a massive loss to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries. The agency initially estimated the Proceed of Crime (PoC) to be around Rs 2,100 crore.
The agency arrested several prominent figures in the case, including former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, ITS Arun Pati Tripathi, businessmen Arvind Singh, Trilok Singh Dhillon and Anwar Dhebar.
ED arrested senior Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, a former Excise Minister and sitting MLA from Bastar in connection with the case in January 2025. As per ED, Lakhma used to receive a substantial amount in cash on a monthly basis out of PoC generated from the said liquor scam.
This was followed by another high-profile arrest in the case with ED arresting Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in July.
The agency filed a prosecution complaint against Baghel accusing him for handling PoC generated from the alleged scam in September. This was overall the fourth chargesheet filed by ED in connection with the case. Notably, EOW had also registered a separate FIR in connection with the case naming a total of 70 individuals.
