Chhattisgarh: ED arrests woman IAS officer in coal levy scam case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday (July 22) arrested IAS officer Ranu Sahu in Chhattisgarh, a day after the central agency conducted raids at her premises in connection with a money laundering case, officials said.

“Sahu was arrested in connection with an alleged coal levy case, and produced in a court hearing Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases here to seek her custody,” ED’s lawyer Saurabh Pandey said.

Sahu, a Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer of the 2010 batch, is currently posted as the director of the state agriculture department. Prior to this posting, she had served as collector of the coal-rich Korba and Raigarh districts. She is the second IAS officer in the state to be arrested in the case.

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The ED conducted raids at her residence in Raipur on Friday (July 21).

Her premises were raided earlier as well and her assets were attached by the ED as part of its probe into the alleged coal levy case.

Sahu is the second IAS officer in the state, who has been arrested in the case. Sameer Vishnoi, an IAS officer of the 2009 batch, was arrested last year in connection with the case.

The agency has been probing an alleged coal levy and liquor scam in the state in which it has arrested some prominent bureaucrats, apart from politicians and persons linked to them.

(With agency inputs)