Raipur: What began as a tax raid in 2020 has now snowballed into one of India’s biggest multi-agency investigations, unearthing a massive ₹7,000 crore scam in Chhattisgarh. Over the past five years, four top investigative agencies—Income Tax Department (IT), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Economic Offences Wing (EOW), and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)—have jointly filed over 11 FIRs involving more than 150 bureaucrats, political leaders, and businessmen.
While over 50 arrests have been made and more than 25 charge sheets filed, no final charge sheet has been submitted yet, signaling a prolonged legal and investigative process.
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How It Started: A February 2020 Raid Sparked a Chain Reaction
The scam traces its origins to February 2020, when the Income Tax Department conducted raids in Chhattisgarh. The initial findings led to a money laundering probe by the ED, which then prompted parallel investigations by the EOW and CBI into various sectors such as liquor trade, coal transport, DMF funds, custom milling, tendu leaves bonus, and even digital gambling apps like Mahadev Satta.
Multiple Chargesheets Filed, Yet Final Prosecution Awaits
ED Filings:
- 4 in Liquor Scam
- 4 in Coal Transport Scam
- 3 in Mahadev App Scam
- 2 in DMF Scam
- 1 in Custom Milling Scam
- EOW Filings:
- 5 in Liquor Scam
- 2 in Coal Transport
- 1 each in DMF, Custom Milling, Tendu Patta Bonus, and Bharatmala Compensation Scam
CBI:
- 1 in PSC Recruitment Scam
- Ongoing probe into Mahadev App case
Despite the volume of investigations and filings, no trial has reached conclusion, with no final charge sheet submitted in any of the cases.
Powerful Names Under the Scanner
Political Leaders:
- Kawasi Lakhma
- Chaitanya Baghel
- Devendra Yadav
- Chandradev Rai
- RP Singh
- Ramgopal Agarwal
- Vinod Tiwari
IAS Officers:
- Ranu Sahu
- Sameer Vishnoi
- Jaiprakash Maurya
- Anil Tuteja
- Taman Singh Sonwani
- Vivek Dhand
- Niranjan Das
IPS Officers:
- Anand Chhabra
- Sheikh Arif
- Prashant Agarwal
- Abhishek Pallav
Other Senior Officials (ITS, RPSC, etc.):
- Arunpati Tripathi (ITS)
- Manoj Soni (ITS)
- Saumya Chaurasia (RPSC)
- Maya Warrier, Nirbhay Sahu, Lalit Ganvir, Aarti Vasnik, Abhishek Maheshwari, Sanjay Dhruv
Businessmen:
- Suryakant Tiwari
- Anwar Dhebar
- Sunil Agarwal
- Ravi Uppal
- Amit Agarwal
- Pappu Bansal
- Saurabh Chandrakar
- Trilok Singh Dhillon
Forest, Excise, and Police Officers:
Dozens more, including Ashok Patel, Rajshekhar Puranik, CB Verma, Arjun Yadav, Jarnadan Kaurav, Neetu Notani, Dinkar Vasnik, Saurabh Bakshi.
Case Highlights and Individual Focus
- Ranu Sahu (IAS): Involved in DMF fund misuse, custom milling irregularities, and illegal coal transport.
- Anil Tuteja (Retd. IAS): Named in both the Liquor and Naan scams.
- Saumya Chaurasia (Ex-Deputy Secretary): Probed for disproportionate assets and links to coal transport networks.
- Arunpati Tripathi (ITS): Under multi-state scrutiny in the liquor scam.
- Anwar Dhebar & Suryakant Tiwari: Central figures in liquor scam spanning multiple departments.
Unanswered Questions and Public Pressure
Despite widespread arrests, massive documentation, and multiple agency involvement, the judicial system has yet to deliver a verdict. The delay in final charge sheets and prosecutions raises concerns whether this operation will yield actual convictions—or remain a political weapon without closure.
With the state’s administrative credibility under fire, and public confidence in anti-corruption systems wavering, the key question remains:
Will justice be served—or will this mega-scam vanish into legal limbo?
