District Mineral Fund 'scam': ED attaches assets worth Rs 21.47 cr of Chhattisgarh cadre IAS Ranu Sahu, 9 others

New Delhi, [India], December 10 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 21.47 crore owned by Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer Ranu Sahu and nine others in the District Mineral Fund (DMF) 'scam' case being investigated under money laundering, the agency said on Tuesday.
ED's Raipur zonal office attached these assets including lands, residential properties, fixed deposits and bank balances following a provisional attachment order issued on December 9, 2024.
The properties are owned IAS Ranu Sahu and nine other accused persons namely Maya Varrier, Radheshyam Mirjha, Bhuvneshwar Singh Raj, Virendra Kumar Rathore, Bharosa Ram Thakur, Sanjay Shende, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Hrishabh Soni and Rakesh Kumar Shukla in the DMF scam case being investigated under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of three different First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by Chhattisgarh Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, wherein it was alleged that the officials of the state government in collusion with contractors scripted a conspiracy for siphoning off DMF.
"For fraudulently securing the DMF contracts, the contractors paid huge amounts of commission and illegal gratification to the tune of 15 per cent to 42 per cent of the contract value to corrupt public officials," said the ED in a statement.
ED investigation has unearthed "the modus operandi of the DMF scam and it is revealed that a major part of the funds credited in the bank account of contractors was withdrawn in cash directly by the contractors or transferred to accommodation entry providers against which cash was received by the contractors."
"These transactions with the accommodation entry providers were shown by the vendors as the purchase of goods without any actual purchase. The cash so received by the vendors was used for the purpose of bribing public officials responsible for allotting the DMF work and/or clearing bills of vendors in this regard and part amount of this cash was also used by the vendors for their own benefit," said the ED.
During the course of the investigation, ED had conducted multiple searches at the various premises of contractors, public servants and their associates and this resulted in the seizure of unaccounted cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.32 crore and investigation revealed that the said seized amounts were part of bribe amount received by these public servants during execution of DMF works.
The total Proceeds of Crime (POC) quantified till date in this case is Rs 90.35 crore where immovable and movable properties worth Rs. 23.79 crore have been provisionally attached, seized and frozen as on December 9.