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Cornered by probe, Chhattisgarh CM asks ED why spare NAN scam

Interestingly, it was the ED that approached the Supreme Court in November last year alleging that some powerful officials in the Chief Minister office were actively involved in diluting the ongoing probe in the PDS scam, also known as NAN scam, at the behest of CM.

Cornered by probe, Chhattisgarh CM asks ED why spare NAN scam

Cornered by probe, Chhattisgarh CM

The fact that Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department teams have proliferated their operation and probe pertaining to several of his close aides has perhaps begun to take its toll on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who has tersely asked the ED to also include NAN and Chit Fund case in its itinerary else he will have to move the court.

Interestingly, it was the ED that approached the Supreme Court in November last year alleging that some powerful officials in the Chief Minister office were actively involved in diluting the ongoing probe in the PDS scam, also known as NAN scam, at the behest of CM.

The ED leveled startling allegations against the CM and his close aide Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla who are key accused in the NAN case. ED told the court that Shukla and Tuteja were vetting and dictating the draft reports of the probe into their role in the NAN scam.

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Baghel who is increasingly feeling pushed against the wall with the Central agencies increasing their ambit of probe into money laundering and graft, has now shot off a letter to the ED demanding investigation in NAN scam and chit fund scam. “Why have you not begun investigation into the plundering of villager’s money in the chit fund scam”, the CM said while training his guns on the federal agencies.

“If the ED does not initiate an investigation into these scams within 15 days, we will file a petition in the court,” he wrote.

Signalling that the role of certain big names including CM madam has not been investigated properly, Baghel CM said it was surprising that the ED has not taken any initiative in high -profile NAN case.

The PDS scam which was unearthed by the Anti Corruption Bureau in February 2015 grabbed national headlines for weeks and brought a great deal of infamy to the then BJP government in the state. ACB officials raided the offices and residences of several State Civil Supplies Corporation officers and seized documents of cash kickbacks.

In his tirade against the Centre, Baghel also made it squarely clear that he still see former Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh as his key opponent and demanded an independent inquiry into Raman and his son Abhishek Singh’s assets.

“Abhishek Singh has been a director in various companies. He also had bought a resort worth crores in GarhMukteshwar (Uttarakhand)”, the CM charged.

He said that chit fund companies cheated innocent youth through job fairs and duped thousands of crores of rupees from the people. Not only that BJP received fund from Sunshine / BPN chit fund company, he said adding that BJP let the ponzi schemes plunder people despite central government and SEBI banning these companies between 2009 and 2014.

More than 310 FIRs were also registered against 161 companies, but a single penny was not recovered from these companies. FIRs against some BJP leaders were also lodged after Congress came to power.

Faced with a relentless offensive against his close aides in the government, Baghel has discernibly become a bundle of worries and some of his attacks on the BJP and the centre show the level of his anxiety. For instance, Bhupesh warned central agencies that his government will act tough against them on the complaints of tormenting people, days before ED sleuths launched their mega search operations on 11 October.

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