Suspended IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi faces further scrutiny as the Economic Offences Wing attaches Rs 4 crore in assets linked to his alleged involvement in a major coal levy scam.
Key Points
- The Economic Offences Wing attached Rs 4 crore in assets belonging to suspended IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi.
- Vishnoi is accused of amassing disproportionate assets through illicit means related to a coal levy scam.
- The attached properties include nine immovable assets acquired in the names of Vishnoi's family and associated firms.
- The Enforcement Directorate had previously attached five immovable properties linked to Vishnoi in connection with the same coal levy scam.
- Proceedings are underway against other public servants, including Saumya Chaurasia, in connection with the scam.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has attached properties of Rs 4 crore belonging to suspended IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, an accused in a coal levy scam, for allegedly amassing assets beyond his known sources of income, officials said.
The EOW had registered a disproportionate assets case against Vishnoi in July 2024, an official release said on Saturday.
During the investigation, the agency identified nine immovable properties, valued at around Rs 4 crore, allegedly acquired through illicit means in the names of Vishnoi's family members and associated firms, it said.
"An application seeking attachment of these properties was filed before the Special Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act in Raipur. Following a hearing on April 17, the court ordered attachment of all such properties," the statement said.
Accordingly, the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing attached the properties. The attached properties cannot be sold or transferred, it said.
Further Investigation into Coal Levy Scam
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier provisionally attached five immovable properties linked to Vishnoi in connection with the coal levy scam, it added.
Proceedings are also underway in cases involving other public servants, including action taken in September last year against properties linked to Saumya Chaurasia, who was deputy secretary in the chief minister's office during the Congress government, the statement said.
Background of the Case
Vishnoi, a 2009-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, was first arrested in 2022 by the ED in connection with the alleged coal levy scam. He was among several accused who were granted bail last year by the Supreme Court.
The case refers to an alleged Rs 540 crore racket between July 2020 and June 2022, when an illegal levy of Rs 25 per tonne was being extorted by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen for every tonne of coal transported in the state.
