In a major development, the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB) on Tuesday filed a mammoth 6,000-page chargesheet before the Special Court in Raipur, exposing a Rs 75.1 crore scam linked to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds in Korea district during the financial years 2021–22 and 2022–23. The chargesheet names nine accused, including high-profile officials and private contractors, alleged to have orchestrated a well-planned conspiracy to embezzle nearly 40 percent of tendered amounts through illicit commissions and kickbacks. The accused include former Deputy Secretary Soumya Chaurasia, then-Collector Ranu Sahu, businessman Suryakant Tiwari, former Additional Commissioner (Tribal Development Department) Maya Warrier, contractor Manoj Bidevde, then-Chief Executive Officer Bhuneshwar Singh Raj, former Deputy Collector Bharosa Ram Jangde, then-CEO Virendra Rajore, and then-CEO Radheyshyam Mirji. According to the SEOIACB, the accused colluded with favoured proprietors and vendors, manipulating tendered DMF allocations, routing inflated commissions, and personally profiting from unauthorised gains, causing substantial economic damage to the state exchequer.

 

The investigation revealed a sophisticated network where multiple local-level syndicates of contractors and suppliers were created solely to exploit the DMF funds, designed originally for mining-affected communities’ welfare. SEOIACB officials confirmed that the entire scheme was engineered through a meticulous series of financial and procedural violations, deliberately breaching the 1988 Prevention of Corruption Act (as amended 2018) alongside provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 120B, 420, 467, 468, and 471. SEOIACB authorities have submitted that all nine accused will be produced before the Special Court via video conferencing. Judicial custody is being sought, while the investigation against additional suspects and potential beneficiaries remains ongoing. Officials affirmed that the current chargesheet marks only the first stage of the prosecution process, with further legal scrutiny expected in the coming months.