Supreme Court Grants Bail to Suspended IAS Officer Ranu Sahu in Chhattisgarh Coal Scam
Raipur
The suspended IAS officer Ranu Sahu, and businessmen Dipesh Tank and Sudhir Agarwal were granted bail by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, in connection with alleged coal scam in Chhattisgarh. Ranu Sahu has been in jail for a year. However, despite getting bail, her release from jail will not be easy.
Ranu Sahu received bail in the ED’s money laundering and coal scam case. However, the EOW has also registered a case against her for disproportionate assets and corruption, which is why she remains in jail.
The EOW stated in its FIR that Ranu Sahu served as the Collector of Korba from July 2021 to July 2022. She allegedly acquired these properties while working as a public servant. She is accused of conspiring with Suryakant Tiwari and members of his syndicate.
She is accused of actively aiding the illegal collection of Rs 25 per ton from coal transporters for issuing DO and TP permits. Wherever Ranu Sahu was posted, she allegedly engaged in corruption through various means to enrich herself.
It has been revealed that she invested around Rs 3 crore 93 lakh 91 thousand 949 in immovable property. Additionally, she has investments in immovable property, insurance, shares, and SIPs.
ED’s mentioned that Ranu Sahu’s property has been divided into three parts: A, B, and C. Part A includes properties purchased in the names of relatives. Part B includes benami properties. Part C includes properties whose value could not be determined and can be seized under the Money Laundering Act.
Last year, the ED raided Ranu Sahu’s residence during her tenure as a collector in connection with the money laundering and coal illegal collection case. ED officials raided her maternal home in Panduka village, Gariaband district. Sahu’s relatives are involved in politics. The team raided the homes of district panchayat member Laxmi Sahu and Congress leader Shailendra Sahu. Laxmi Sahu is the mother of Ranu Sahu, and Shailendra Sahu is her cousin. Information about a 12-acre pond in Mainpur registered under the family’s name also surfaced.
In Chhattisgarh’s coal scam case, based on the ED’s report, ACB/EOW has registered FIRs against 36 individuals, including two former ministers and legislators. The ACB team has now intensified its investigation.
FIR against the accused in the coal case:
Kawasi Lakhma, MLA and former Excise Minister
Devendra Yadav, MLA
Amarjeet Bhagat, former Food Minister
Brihaspat Singh, former MLA
Gulab Kamro, former MLA
Shishupal Sori, former MLA
Chandra Dev Prasad Rai, former MLA
UD Minz, former MLA
Sameer Vishnoi, suspended IAS
Ranu Sahu, suspended IAS
Saumya Chaurasia, former Deputy Secretary, CM Office
Sandeep Kumar Nayak, Assistant Mineral Officer
Shivshankar Nag, Mineral Officer
Suryakant Tiwari, coal businessman
Manish Upadhyay
Roshan Kumar Singh
Nikhil Chandrakar
Rahul Singh
Parikh Kurre
Moinuddin Qureshi
Virendra Jaiswal
Rajnikant Tiwari
Hemant Jaiswal
Joginder Singh
Navneet Tiwari
Dipesh Tank
Devendra Dadseena
Rahul Mishra
Ramgopal Agarwal, then Treasurer, Congress
Ram Pratap Singh, then Spokesperson, Congress
Vinod Tiwari, PEP
Idris Gandhi, PEP
Sunil Kumar Agarwal
Jai
Chandraprakash Jaiswal
Laxmikant Tiwari
The ED has arrested 11 individuals, including businessman Suryakant Tiwari, an officer from former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s secretariat Saumya Chaurasia, and IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi.
Properties worth Rs 222 crore have been attached, and the investigation is ongoing. The Enforcement Directorate has also considered this a major economic crime in the state, filing a complaint with the state’s ACB apart from money laundering.
