Continuing its sustained crackdown on corruption linked to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund irregularities, the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB) on Wednesday conducted coordinated search and seizure operations at 14 locations across Chhattisgarh. The ongoing probe, registered under Crime No. 02/2024, is being investigated under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), and Sections 420, 120B, 467, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. The Bureau’s teams simultaneously carried out searches at six premises in Raipur, two in Durg-Bhilai, five in Rajnandgaon, and one in Dhamtari, targeting contractors, suppliers, and business operators suspected of involvement in tender manipulation and diversion of DMF allocations.

 

In Raipur, SEOIACB officers searched Wallfort Enclave near Pachpedi Naka and Wallfort City-II, including the residences of businessmen Amit Kothari and Ashok Kothari. In Durg, the Bureau raided multiple locations including the Khandelwal Colony residence of the Parakh family, government suppliers and proprietors of Life Care Diagnostic Centre, linked with DMF-related contracts and procurement work. Another search was carried out at the Revegaon village residence of Praveen Singh, Director of Kshatriya Agro, located along Dhamdha Road in Durg district. In Rajnandgaon, teams conducted searches at the premises of Radhakrishan Agrawal, a mining and government supplier residing near Bharatiya Press. Agrawal, an old hand in coal operations, is related to businessman Sunil Agrawal.

 

The Bureau also searched the houses of Lalit Bhansali, a tent-house operator allegedly linked to hawala transactions, and Yash Nahata and Romil Nahata, government suppliers residing in Satyam Vihar and originally from Dongargaon. Officials confirmed the recovery of digital storage devices, bank account statements, property deeds, GST filings, and billing records suspected to be linked with inflated tenders and commission-based allocations. Preliminary scrutiny suggests irregular financial flows and possible payments to certain public servants for securing DMF contracts. All recovered materials have been sealed for forensic and fiscal examination. The latest raids mark a key stage in the ongoing DMF investigation. In May 2025, SEOIACB filed a 6,000-page chargesheet before the Special Court in Raipur, exposing a Rs 75.1 crore embezzlement in Korea district.

 

The accused included former Deputy Secretary Soumya Chaurasia, then-Collector Ranu Sahu, businessman Suryakant Tiwari, former Additional Commissioner Maya Warrier, contractor Manoj Bidevde, and officials Bhuneshwar Singh Raj, Virendra Rajore, Radheyshyam Mirji, and Bharosa Ram Jangde, accused of diverting nearly 40 per cent of DMF funds through shell firms. Later, in October 2025, the Bureau filed an 8,000-page disproportionate assets chargesheet against Soumya Chaurasia, tracing unaccounted assets worth Rs 49.69 crore, nearly 1,872 per cent beyond her known income-allegedly sourced from coal transportation and DMF-linked dealings during her tenure in the Chief Minister’s Office. A senior SEOIACB official told The Hitavada that Wednesday’s searches were “driven by fresh digital and documentary evidence gathered from earlier seizures and custodial statements.” The officer added that supplementary charge-sheets are likely as the probe widens across multiple districts.