• Source:JND
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JE News Desk: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested a woman IAS officer identified as Ranu Sahu in Chattisgarh’s Raipur on Saturday. The move came a day after the central agency conducted raids at her residence in connection with a money laundering case, officials said.

According to ED’s lawyer, Sahu was arrested in connection with an alleged coal levy case, and produced in a court hearing Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases to seek her custody, he added. She is the second IAS officer to be arrested in connection with the case.

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An IAS officer of the 2009 batch, Sameer Vishnoi was also arrested in connection with the case last year. The ED conducted raids at Sahu’s residence in Raipur on Friday. The central agency had earlier raided her premises and also attached her assets as part of its investigation in the alleged coal levy case.

Who Is Ranu Sahu?

Ranu Sahu, a Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer from the 2010 batch, is currently posted as the director of the state agriculture department. She had earlier served as a collector of the coal-rich districts of Korba and Raigarh in the state.

Earlier, Ranu Sahu’s bureaucrat husband and IAS officer J P Maurya was also searched and questioned in connection with the same case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been investigating an alleged coal levy and liquor scam in the state and apart from politicians linked with the case, the agency has also arrested some prominent bureaucrats.

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The central agency had also exposed an alleged liquor scam worth Rs 2,000 crore in Chattisgarh, resulting in the arrest of businessmen under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Earlier in the day, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also reacted to the recent ED and IT searces in the state and said, “Central government’s close friends are very much interested in mining sites in Chhattisgarh be it coal or iron-ore. And the Congress government is becoming a hurdle on their way, that’s why they are doing all this. We have been taking decisions from time to time keeping in mind the conservation and protection of the forest, mining and natural resources of the state.”

(With Agency Inputs)