Overview
- After being produced on Wednesday, the Special PMLA court in Raipur remanded Chaurasia to ED custody until Friday for custodial interrogation.
- In its remand application, the ED alleged she served as an administrative and financial node linking decision-makers to cash handlers and hawala operators, citing witness statements describing transfers of roughly Rs 80–100 crore.
- The ED told the court that diary entries seized in a related case reflect about Rs 43.5 crore received by Chaurasia from liquor proceeds, and that the network relied on fixed commissions and exclusive supply arrangements.
- Investigators estimate the alleged cartelised excise operation between 2019 and 2022 generated or diverted roughly Rs 2,500–3,200 crore through shell firms and hawala channels.
- Earlier actions in the case include the arrests of former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and Chaitanya Baghel, whom the ED alleges managed the syndicate and handled nearly Rs 1,000 crore, while Chaurasia also remains an accused in the separate coal levy case for which she received interim Supreme Court bail in May.