Chhattisgarh Congress Treasurer Arrested in Multi-Crore Scam Cases
The Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday arrested Congress State Treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal in connection with alleged coal and liquor scams. An EOW official confirmed that Agrawal had been absconding for some time and is accused of receiving crores of rupees.
During the investigation of the coal levy case, entries amounting to crores were found in a diary belonging to Suryakant Tiwari, the alleged kingpin, under the name of Congress Bhawan (State Congress Headquarters). The coal levy case involves allegations that an illegal levy of ₹0.25 per tonne was extorted on every tonne of coal transported in the state during the previous Congress regime.
The EOW official stated, “The investigation has revealed that the said amount was received by Ramgopal Agrawal at Congress Bhawan. He is being questioned regarding the diary entry, the source of funds, the individuals who delivered the funds, the recipients, and their use.”
In addition to the coal case, Agrawal will be questioned in connection with the liquor scam, the paddy case, and other related matters. In the liquor case, it is alleged that Anwar Dhebar and his associates delivered crores of rupees to Agrawal at Congress Bhavan. The paddy scam involves alleged illegal recoveries of around ₹140 crores from rice millers during the Kharif marketing season 2021-22, when the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government was in power.
The EOW also revealed that Roshan Chandrakar allegedly delivered crores of rupees to Agrawal at Congress Bhavan in connection with the custom milling case. Agrawal’s son, Vaibhav Agrawal, was questioned by the EOW for the past two days.
State Congress spokesperson Surendra Verma said that while Agrawal officially held the post of treasurer, he had been absconding and was not handling responsibilities. The investigation is ongoing.
