Money laundering: Raipur court extends judicial custody of IAS officer, 2 others

A special court in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur on Thursday extended the judicial custody of an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and two others by one-day in a money laundering case linked to alleged extortion of money from mining transporters.

The court also sent coal trader Suryakant Tiwari, a prime suspect in the case, to one-day judicial custody on expiry of his Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s custody.

All four will be produced in the court again on Friday, their lawyer said.

On the expiry of Suryakant Tiwari's ED custody and judicial remand of IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi and two other accused, Sunil Agrawal and Laxmikant Tiwari, they were produced in the court of Additional District and Session Judge Ajay Singh Rajput, said Faizal Rizvi, the counsel of Suryakant Tiwari and Laxmikant Tiwari.

Rizvi said he told the court the Karnataka police had registered an FIR (first information report) against Suryakant Tiwari (when he was in Bengaluru) in July this year for allegedly trying to destroy important documents as well as electronic gadgets and obstructing government officials from performing duties after the Income Tax department carried out searches in his premises.

In the case lodged by the Karnataka police, Suryakant Tiwari has secured a stay from the Karnataka High Court. The ED's case is entirely based on the information shared by the I-T department and when the Karnataka HC has given a stay on the I-T's case in Bengaluru, then the ED's investigation should also be put on hold, he argued.

The ED sought time to submit its reply following which the court ordered one-day judicial custody of all four arrested persons, he added.

Vishnoi, Agrawal and Laxmikant Tiwari were arrested by the ED on October 13 after the central agency launched multi-city raids in the state on October 11.

Suryakant Tiwari surrendered before the court on October 29, following which the ED got his custody for 12 days for questioning.

The ED had, in a statement, claimed a ''massive scam'' was taking place in coal transportation in Chhattisgarh, under which a cartel of politicians, officers and others was allegedly running a parallel system of extorting illegal levy, which is generating Rs 2 crore to Rs 3 crore daily.

The probe agency alleged Vishnoi and his wife were found in possession of unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 47 lakh and 4 kg gold jewellery.

The money laundering investigation was launched after the ED took cognisance of a complaint by the Income-Tax department.

The ED has claimed the kingpin of this scam is Suryakant Tiwari and his associates entered into a criminal conspiracy to run a parallel system of extorting illegal levy on coal and were doing illegal and unaccounted cash movement.

The anti-money laundering agency had said it has seized unaccounted cash of Rs 4.5 crore, gold jewellery, bullion and other valuables worth around Rs 2 crore during the raids.

As per case details, Vishnoi, a Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer of the 2009-batch, was working as the CEO of the Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society.

Laxmikant Tiwari, a lawyer from Mahasamund district, is the uncle of coal businessman Suryakant Tiwari whose properties were also covered during searches. The probe agency also carried out searches at Laxmikant Tiwari's residence in Mahasamund town.