RAIPUR: In an escalation of the ongoing investigation into disproportionate assets and corruption, the Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing and Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW-ACB) have attached properties worth approximately Rs 4 crore belonging to suspended IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, sources revealed.
The probe agency has tightened the noose around the 2009-batch bureaucrat by seizing both liquid and immovable assets. The latest action includes the attachment of residential and commercial properties valued at a market rate of roughly Rs 4 crore.
Multiple parcels of land identified during the course of the investigation have been cordoned off and seized by the state authorities.
Sameer Vishnoi, who previously served as the Director of Geology and Mining and the Managing Director of the Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC), has been under the scanner for his alleged involvement in the coal levy scam.
The ACB-EOW investigation suggests that the value of the assets recovered far exceeds the officer’s known legal sources of income. This move follows a series of raids and interrogations conducted by both state agencies and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the past year.
The attachment of these properties is seen as a major procedural step in the legal battle against administrative corruption in the state. Sources within the EOW indicate that further assets linked to proxy (benami) transactions are currently being tracked, and more seizures may follow as the trial progresses.
The suspended officer is currently in judicial custody as the investigation into the alleged money laundering and extortion syndicate continues to unfold. Investigations suggest that Vishnoi acquired illegal immovable assets worth crores of rupees.
These properties were reportedly registered not in his own name, but under the names of various family members and different business firms to evade detection.