Raipur: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested the additional collector of Chhattisgarh's Balrampur-Ramanujganj district in connection with a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Public Service Commission (PSC) during the previous Congress government, officials said.
Chetan Borghariya, a state civil services officer, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following his questioning at the office of the central agency located here. Officials claimed he was "evasive" in his replies.
Borghariya was earlier posted as officer on special duty (OSD) in the office of the then chief minister Bhupesh Baghel between 2019 and 2022. His premises in Balrampur and Dhamtari were raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 1.
The officer will be produced before a special PMLA court where the ED will seek his remand for custodial interrogation, the officials said.
This is the third arrest by the ED in this case. It had earlier arrested former Chhattisgarh PSC (CGPSC) chairman Taman Singh Sonwani and Utkarsh Chandrakar, nephew of Baghel's former personal assistant K K Chandravanshi alias K K Chandrakar.
The money laundering case pertains to alleged corruption, question paper leaks and manipulation of state service examinations conducted by the CGPSC in 2020 and 2021.
The agency has claimed that CGPSC 2021 exam candidates paid at least Rs 3.2 crore, mostly in cash, to secure leaked question papers.
It alleged that Borghariya's bank records and seized digital devices showed transactions between him and Utkarsh Chandrakar.
The money laundering investigation stems from a Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing FIR and a subsequent complaint filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July 2024 and three chargesheets filed in 2025.
The CBI case was filed after the BJP ousted the Congress from power in Chhattisgarh in November 2023.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.