The Opposition Congress party has accused the State police of providing preferential treatment to a BJP Lok Sabha election candidate from Chhattisgarh whose name cropped up during the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in the coal levy scam case.
Party spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla on March 4 asked why Chintamani Maharaj – whose name featured among the 195 candidates announced by the BJP last week – had not been named in the FIR filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the coal levy case based on a letter by the ED.
The purported letter named Mr. Maharaj – a former Congress MLA who joined the BJP ahead of last year’s Assembly election – as one of the legislators who “extorted” money from Suryakant Tiwari, alleged kingpin of the coal levy scam. While the FIR mentions that Mr. Maharaj received ₹5 lakh from Mr. Tiwari, his name has not been mentioned in the list of accused.
