Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday called the arrest of his top aide Saumya Chaurasia a “political act” and assured that they will “fight against it”.
“As I have been saying, the arrest of my Deputy Secretary Saumya Chaurasia by the ED is a political act. We will fight against it with all our might,” CM Baghel wrote on Twitter.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested Chaurasia – the deputy secretary to the Chhattisgarh CM – for allegedly being involved in an illegal mining case involving over ₹150 crores.
In February 2020, income tax officials searched Chaurasia’s Bhilai house for the first time. This prompted Baghel to send an angry letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he called the IT raids “unconstitutional” and “politically motivated”. He alleged that the raids coincided with a criminal investigation initiated by his government into acts of corruption under the previous BJP government. The searches were conducted in more than 30 locations within the state.
Also read: ED, IT torturing people in name of questioning & raids: Chhattisgarh CM Baghel
In July this year, Chaurasia made headlines after the I-T department raided her house and seized a total of ₹14 crore worth of ‘undisclosed’ cash and jewellery. Baghel’s top aide was also detected to have evaded taxes worth several crores.
Chaurasia is a civil servant from the Chhattisgarh Administrative Service (CAS). She joined the CM’s office after Baghel formed the government in the state in 2018.
Trending Topics to Follow
