Raipur, Jul 8 (PTI) Congress leader Ramgopal Agrawal was detained by the Chhattisgarh's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday for questioning in the alleged coal levy scam, officials said.

He will also be interrogated in connection with the liquor and rice custom milling-linked cases, they said.

All these alleged scams, which came to light during the previous Congress regime in the state when Agrawal was the treasurer of the state Congress, are also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Agrawal was not available for investigation for a considerable period and a permanent warrant had been issued against him by a special court under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the EOW said in a statement.

He was being questioned on the basis of evidence that emerged during the investigation, including documents, digital evidence, a seized diary and other material, it said.

The diary, seized from coal levy scam accused Suryakant Tiwari, contained entries of payments of crores of rupees made in the name of "Congress Bhavan", the EOW claimed, adding that as per the probe, Agrawal received the money at the Congress office.

The investigation into the alleged liquor scam indicated that crores of rupees were allegedly delivered to Agrawal at Congress Bhavan by 'kingpin' Anwar Dhebar and his associates, the agency said, adding that Agrawal would be questioned about the utilisation of these funds.

Similarly, the agency claimed that its probe into the paddy custom milling-linked case revealed that crores of rupees were allegedly delivered to Agrawal by Roshan Chandrakar, former treasurer of Chhattisgarh State Rice Millers Association and an accused in the case.

The EOW questioned Agrawal's son Vaibhav Agrawal over the past two days as part of the investigation, the agency said.

According to investigation agencies, a coal cartel extorted Rs 540 crore between July 2020 and June 2022 when the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government ruled the state.

The alleged liquor scam unfolded between 2019 and 2022. The EOW has claimed that the proceeds of crime in this case could exceed Rs 3,500 crore.

The rice milling scam of Rs 175 crore allegedly took place during the Kharif marketing season 2021-22.

Chhattisgarh Congress communications wing chief Sushil Anand Shukla alleged that the ruling BJP was using central agencies such as the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department to malign the opposition party by registering false cases against its leaders.

Since the ED failed to establish its allegations in these cases, the BJP government was using the EOW, he said, adding that the case against Agarwal will not stand in the court. PTI TKP KRK