The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed another supplementary charge sheet in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam case, according to which the biggest scam related to liquor business has come to light in Chhattisgarh. ED alleged that between 2019 and 2023, illegal earnings of about Rs 2,883 crore were made through systematic corruption in the state excise department.
Syndicate made illegal earnings of Rs 2,883 crore
The investigation has revealed that a strong syndicate of officers, politicians and private businessmen were jointly running the liquor policy for their own benefit. According to ED’s investigation, there were four major avenues of illegal earning in this entire scam.
- First, illegal commission was collected from liquor suppliers. For this, the landing price of liquor was deliberately increased so that the bribe money could be withdrawn from the government treasury itself.
- Second, country liquor was sold without accounting from government shops. Fake holograms and bottles purchased in cash were used, due to which tax and excise duty were completely avoided.
- Third, huge sums of money were taken from the distillery owners every year, so that their market remains intact and the license remains secure.
- Fourth, a new license category called FL-10A was created for foreign liquor, in which about 60 percent of the profits went directly to the syndicate.
What was revealed in the ED charge sheet?
According to the ED charge sheet, the backbone of this scam were some senior officers. Retired IAS Anil Tuteja, then Excise Commissioner Niranjan Das and CSMCL MD Arun Pati Tripathi are accused of handling the management from policy to recovery. Apart from this, more than 30 field level excise officers have been accused of selling liquor without accounting by taking commission according to each case.
It has been told in the charge sheet that the then Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma and former Chief Minister’s son Chaitanya Baghel are accused of giving green signal to the policy and investing the illegal earnings in business and real estate. At the same time, Soumya Chaurasia, who was the Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), has been said to be an important link in the handling of black money and posting of officers as per her wish. This syndicate was led by Anwar Dhebar and his associate Arvind Singh.
Total 81 accused named in ED’s charge sheet, 59 new names included
According to ED, companies like Chhattisgarh Distilleries Limited, Bhatia Wine Merchants and Welcome Distilleries not only manufactured liquor without accounting but also paid various types of commissions. The role of Siddharth Singhania in cash collection and Vidu Gupta in supplying fake holograms has been reported.
ED has so far named a total of 81 accused in this case, out of which 59 new accused have been added in the recent charge sheet. At the same time, 9 big names have been arrested, these include Anil Tuteja, Arvind Singh, Trilok Singh Dhillon, Anwar Dhebar, Arun Pati Tripathi, Kawasi Lakhma, Chaitanya Baghel, Soumya Chaurasia and Niranjan Das. Some accused are on bail while some are still in jail.
Assets worth Rs 382.32 crore seized so far in the scam
ED has so far seized movable and immovable properties worth Rs 382.32 crore in this case. A total of 1,041 properties have been attached, which include Raipur’s famous Hotel Wellington Court and hundreds of properties belonging to the Dhebar and Baghel families.
The agency says that this scam was not limited to liquor only, but was the result of deep-seated nexus within the system. The possibility of more big revelations and action being taken in this case in the coming days is not being ruled out.
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