ED raids Jamshedpur hotel in connection with Chhattisgarh coal scam case

Jamshedpur, Jan. 13: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Friday conducted raids at the premises of businessmen brothers Sanoj Sinha and Manoj Sinha at Adityapur (Seraikela-Kharsawan) in connection with coal extortion case linked to Chhattisgarh cadre IAS Soumya Chaurasia arrested by ED recently.

Sanoj Sinha and his brother Manoj Sinha own hotels and other businesses like fuel stations. They are reportedly considered close to Soumya Chaurasia. She was the deputy secretary in the office of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

Besides Jharkhand, the federal anti-money laundering agency carried out raids in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka also.

In Jamshedpur, the ED officials raided the Madhuban Hotel, located on Adityapur-Kandra main road. They also own another hotel named Novanta Hotel.

The ED is investigating a major scam involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen. The ED said that a coal extortion syndicate used to illegally extort Rs 25 per tonne from transporters and many of them amassed assets with proceeds of crime in the name of their relatives. So far, the ED has attached assets to the tune of Rs 150 crore, sources said.

Explaining the enormity of crime, the ED has stated that in the last two years Rs 540 crore has been ‘extorted’. The ED started a probe in October last year against the CEO of Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society and 2009 batch IAS Sameer Vishnoi. Besides Soumya, the ED also arrested Sameer Vishnoi, alleged kingpin Suryakant Tiwari and two businessmen, sources said.