Raipur, Nov 23 (IANS) The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) launched simultaneous raids at over 20 locations across Chhattisgarh on Sunday, targeting the alleged multi-crore District Mineral Foundation (DMF) and excise scams that have plagued the state’s mining and liquor sectors.

The operations, spanning from Raipur to Jagdalpur, have sent shockwaves through officialdom and business circles, with homes and offices of implicated bureaucrats, contractors, and businessmen sealed off for intensive searches.

The raids follow earlier actions, including October’s EOW sweeps at 14 sites in Raipur, Durg-Bhilai, and Rajnandgaon, where digital evidence pointed to money trails benefiting a web of politicians and middlemen.

The raids kicked off at dawn, with ACB teams descending on a prominent businessman in Sargipal, Kondagaon district. The entire property was cordoned off under heavy security, and investigators have been poring over documents, computerised records, and financial ledgers for more than two hours.

Similar scenes unfolded in Bilaspur, Ambikapur, and other districts, where teams seized hard drives, bank statements, and property deeds suspected of revealing illicit transactions. Sources described the action as one of the largest statewide probes into graft, focusing on irregularities during DMF supplies in 2019-20, when funds meant for mining-affected tribal communities—totalling hundreds of crores—were allegedly siphoned off through fake tenders, inflated bills, and kickbacks.

The Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) mandates mining firms to contribute up to one-third of royalties for local welfare projects like health, education, and infrastructure in mineral-rich areas.

However, probes have uncovered a nexus of officials and suppliers diverting these resources, leaving vulnerable communities high and dry. Intertwined with this is the excise scam, involving a Rs 3,200 crore liquor syndicate from 2019-23, where excise officials amassed Rs 88 crore in illicit assets through rigged contracts and policy manipulations like the controversial FL-10 licences.

Over 200 corrupt functionaries have been nabbed in the past two years. In Raipur’s Civil Lines, a former excise official’s office yielded ledgers hinting at undeclared commissions. With forensic audits underway, Chhattisgarh’s anti-graft machinery signals no leniency, aiming to reclaim pilfered public wealth and restore faith in governance.

–IANS

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