ED sleuths arrest former IAS officer in money laundering case
| Date :11-Nov-2020 |
Former IAS officer Babulal Agrawal greets mediapersons when ED sleuths escorted him to be produced in PMLA court.
Staff Reporter :
Raipur,
Officer granted to ED custody till November 12 by special PMLA court
A four-member team of Raipur-based Sub Zonal Office of Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former IAS officer Babulal Agrawal from his residence, in connection with a money laundering case liked with the charges of corruption, cheating, forgergy and disproportionate assets. The former bureaucrat has been granted ED custody for two days i.e. till November 12, 2020, even as earlier the officer’s Chartered accountant Sunil Agrawal was also arrested by the ED in the same case. “In a discreet operation, Babulal Agrawal, a 1988-batch IAS officer was arrested from his plush residence, situated at posh Devendra Nagar Colony of the capital city.
The arresting done under Section 19 of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), was necessitated due to successive ‘non-cooperative’ behaviour of the errant officer in the ongoing investigation against him,” well-placed sources in ED Sub Zonal office averred to The Hitavada, requesting anonymity. The ED team led by an Assistant Director ranked officer, who executed the arrest warrant between 5.00 and 5.30 pm on Monday evening, was also accompanied by two Assistant Enforcement Officers (AEOs) and a female staffer. At the time of arrest, Babulal Agarwal was alone at his home, while his family unaware of situation back at home were out for Diwali purchase.
“The secrecy of the whole operation overseen by ED Deputy Director Nitin Kumar Jaiman can be gauged from the fact that only his superior and handful of office colleagues knew about it. Even the ever-alert media of capital failed to get any whiff about the arrest of the former IAS officer, who in past had served as a Principal Secretary in the Chhattisgarh government and also previously arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of corruption,” the sources maintained. Following the arrest, according to the sources, Agrawal was immediately taken to the ED Sub Zonal office in Tikrapara where after overnight detention; he was produced in the court of Special PMLA Judge Vivek Kumar Verma on Tuesday morning. Later, Verma, who is also 4th Additional District and Sessions Judge, granted the officer to ED custody till November 12.
Sources further revealed that the ED sought and pled the court to grant them custody of Agarwal solely for the purpose of interrogation. “He had been deliberately impeding the investigations for past quite sometime and had been ignoring the summons for visiting the ED office to record his statement into charges for laundering the proceeds generated out of criminal offences through shell companies and integrating the same in the business of his family members,” the sources added. The sources pertinently recalled that Agrawal was suspended by Chhattisgarh immediately after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested him. The errant officer, who was then Health Secretary in Chhattisgarh Government, had made a failed attempt to hush-up the CBI probe charges which were registered in 2010. The alleged corruption and disproportionate assets case against came to fore after Income Tax Department conducted a massive search operation on multiple premises of Babulal Agrawal, his family members and others in February 2010. Subsequently, the agency after undertaking in-depth study of the 2010 First Information Report (FIR) by State Anti Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing (SACBEOW) and CBI had initiated the investigation under PMLA. In the meantime, as per an official communiqué, the ED investigation has found that Agrawal by misusing his official and engaging in corrupt practices had awarded the contracts related to World Bank aided Malaria eradication program to some non-existent entities, which caused loss to the exchequer and while amassed undue benefits for self. It further stated the probe has also found that the former IAS in collusion with his CA Sunil Agrawal, his brothers Ashok Agrawal and Pawan Agrawal, had opened more than 400 bank accounts in the name of impressionable villagers of Kharora and nearby villages wherein they had deposited cash to the tune of whooping Rs 46 crore. This scrupulously earned cash was funnelled through shell companies opened by his CA and other entities, which was ultimately parked in M/s Prime Ispat Limited Raipur as investment in shares. ED has already attached properties to the tune of Rs 36.09 crore which includes, assets of the company of M/s Prime Ispat Limited and the properties of Babulal Agarwal.