Chhattisgarh NAN 'scam': ED arrests 2 ex-IAS officers, gets custody till Oct 16

Raipur, Sep 22 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested two former Chhattisgarh IAS officers-- Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla-- in the alleged Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) scam after the Supreme Court last week set aside the anticipatory bail granted to them in the case.

The federal probe agency produced the two before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here which sent them to ED custody till October 16.

The ED will take Tuteja (62) and Shukla (65) to Delhi for questioning as the money laundering case is being probed by its headquarters investigation unit, officials said.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma on September 18 had allowed the ED to take custody of the two retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers for a period of four weeks, from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, following which both men were ordered to be released "if not required in any other case, subject to the terms and conditions that may be imposed by the trial court".

"We have no hesitation in setting aside the anticipatory bail granted to respondent Alok Shukla and are inclined to grant custody of respondent Alok Shukla to the appellant - ED for a period of four weeks, from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, subject to the condition that he shall cooperate with the appellant - ED so as to facilitate it to complete the investigation and file the complaint," the bench had said.

The top court on September 16 said that with regard to Tuteja, it had no hesitation in setting aside the anticipatory bail granted.

The ED claimed that some constitutional functionaries of Chhattisgarh being in touch with a high court judge to ensure judicial relief to some accused in a money laundering case arising from the alleged multi-crore rupees NAN scam.

Besides seeking transfer of the PMLA case outside Chhattisgarh, the ED has sought cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to some high-profile accused in the money laundering case.

In 2019, the ED lodged an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the PMLA based on the FIR and chargesheet filed by the Chhattisgarh Police's economic offences wing (EOW) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the alleged civil supply scam.

The alleged scam in the public distribution system (PDS) surfaced when the ACB raided some offices of the Nagrik Apurti Nigam, the nodal agency for ensuring effective operation of the PDS system, in February 2015 and seized unaccounted cash totalling Rs 3.64 crore.

Many of the rice and salt samples collected during the raid were tested for their quality and were claimed to be sub-standard and unfit for human consumption.

While Tuteja is a former chairperson of NAN, Shukla is its ex-managing director. PTI NES KVK KVK