Chhattisgarh EOW attaches Rs 8 crore assets belonging to bureaucrat Chaurasia in DA case

Raipur, Sep 23 (PTI) Chhattisgarh police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Tuesday attached 16 properties worth Rs 8 crore belonging to bureaucrat Saumya Chaurasia for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income, an official said.

Chaurasia, a State Administrative Service (SAS) officer, served as a deputy secretary in Chief Minister's Office (CMO) when Congress CM Bhupesh Baghel headed the party-led government from 2018 to 2023 in Chhattisgarh.

This was the first instance in the state where the EOW has seized disproportionate assets acquired by a civil servant, he added.

The EOW had lodged a disproportionate assets (DA) case against Chaurasia in July 2024. During investigation, the state agency found evidence that Chaurasia had purchased approximately 45 properties worth nearly Rs 47 crore in the name of her family members and acquaintances, the official added.

Among these properties, purchased through coal levy funds and other corrupt sources, as many as 29 worth approximately Rs 39 crore were earlier seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), an official of the state's financial crimes agency said.

Chaurasia is also an accused in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal levy scam in Chhattisgarh dating back to time when the Congress was in power under Baghel. The ED is probing the money laundering case in which the civil servant is currently out on bail.

The state agency had filed an application with a special Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing (ACB/EOW) court here on June 16, 2025, seeking attachment of the remaining 16 properties of Chaurasia, he added.

Similar action will be taken in the future against civil servants in cases of disproportionate assets/corruption against them, the official said.

In July 2024, an FIR was lodged against Chaurasia under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988/Amended Act, 2018.

The 2008-batch SAS officer received about Rs 85.50 lakh as salary and other allowances till October 2022, while she has acquired immovable properties in the name of her family members and acquaintances worth crores, the FIR against her had claimed. PTI COR RSY