New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday said it has attached combined assets worth more than Rs 21 crore of Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer Ranu Sahu, former Assistant Commissioner of the state tribal development department Maya Varier and some others as part of a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the state district mineral fund (DMF).

A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was issued on Monday attaching lands, residential properties and fixed and bank deposits worth Rs 21.47 crore.

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These properties belong to or are owned by the "accused" in this case like Sahu, Varrier, Radheshyam Mirjha, Bhuvneshwar Singh Raj, Virendra Kumar Rathore, Bharosa Ram Thakur, Sanjay Shende, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Hrishabh Soni and Rakesh Kumar Shukla, the agency said in a statement.

The money laundering probe into the alleged DMF scam was initiated after the ED took cognisance of three FIRs registered by the Chhattisgarh Police that booked the accused on charges of siphoning off government funds by the contractors in collusion with state government officials and political executives.

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For "fraudulently" securing the DMF contracts, the contractors paid "huge amounts of commission and illegal gratification" to the tune of 15-42 per cent of the contract value to "corrupt" public officials, it is alleged.

DMF is a trust funded by miners that have been set up in all districts of Chhattisgarh with an aim to work for the benefit of those affected by mining-related projects and activities, as per the ED.

According to the probe agency, Sahu was the collector of Korba district from May 2021 to June 2022 and Varier was the Assistant Commissioner of the Tribal Development Department in the same district from August 2021 to March 2023.

"During their tenure in Korba, an organised system of collection of illegal commissions from the vendors/contractors was being operated," the agency had alleged in a statement issued earlier.

The probe found that the contractors paid "huge amounts of commission/illegal gratification" to officials, to the tune of 25-40 per cent of the contract value, it claimed.

"Cash used for payment of kickbacks was generated by the vendors/contractors using accommodation entries," the ED said.

DMF Fund allocated to Korba district was more than Rs 1,000 crore from its inception till 2022-23 fiscal and, with the prevalent rate, commission to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees was generated, the agency had said.

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