ED searches premises linked to Bhupesh Baghel’s PA in money laundering probe | India News

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out raids at several locations in Chhattisgarh including the premises of K K Chandrakar, a personal assistant of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC), people familiar with the development said.The alleged manipulation to place the kin of high-ranking officials and prominent politicians took place in the 2020 and 2021 CGPSC examinations.ED’s money laundering probe stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case filed in 2024 in the matter. The FIR had named several candidates linked to Congress leaders without naming the politicians.It had said that the individuals making it in the merit list from serial numbers 1-171 of CGPSC were allegedly related to government officials, politicians and influential persons.Also Read: ‘Not a child’s play’: Baghel hands Punjab leadership report to top brassThe state government had referred the probe to the CBI on February 16, 2024, about two months after the Congress was unseated in the state by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the December 2023 assembly elections.CBI had named Taman Singh Sonwani, former Chairman of CGPSC, Jeevan Kishor Dhruv, former secretary of CGPSC, unnamed public servants in Chhattisgarh government and “concerned politicians” and others in the case.The ED recently, on July 25, arrested Sonwani under the prevention of money laundering act or PMLA.“ED investigation revealed that Taman Singh Sonwani, while functioning as the Chairman of the CGPSC, entered into a criminal conspiracy with other public servants and private individuals for leaking question papers and manipulating the selection process in exchange for illegal gratification, so as to secure the fraudulent selection of his own relatives and other favoured candidates to senior public posts, including the posts of Deputy Collector and Deputy Superintendent of Police. Investigation further revealed that the recruitment rules of the CGPSC were amended in 2021 so as to remove the word ‘nephew’ from the definition of ‘family’, thereby facilitating the selection of the relatives of Taman Singh Sonwani,” ED said in a statement on July 27.The proceeds of crime, according to ED, were collected partly in cash and partly routed through layered banking transactions.