New Delhi [India], August 9 (ANI): The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in Raipur had arrested two people under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the ongoing money laundering investigation into the liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.
The accused, identified as Anwar Dhebar and Arunpati Tripathi, were produced in front of the Special Court (PMLA) in Raipur, where the bench had granted ED their August 14, ED said in a press release.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and Economic Offences Wing of Chhattisgarh under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act in the matter of a liquor scam in the State of Chhattisgarh.
The ED investigation further revealed that Anwar Dhebar was the strongman who ran the liquor syndicate in association with a bureaucrat, IAS Anil Tuteja.
Both of them conceived and planned the entire scam. Using the clout of Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar posted officials of his choice in the Excise Department and thus became the de facto Excise Minister.
He ran the entire bribe collection racket for Parts A, B, and C and from FL-10A License Holders. He ran the unprecedented scam of selling unaccounted illicit liquor from state-run shops.
Every Rupee of the proceeds of crime earned through PART-A, B, and C and from FL-10A licences has had been acquired from his direct actions.
ED investigation on Arunpati Tripathi had revealed that he played a key role in enacting the nefarious scheme of sale of unaccounted liquor through CSMCL shops (termed Part-B).
He was the one who arranged meetings with the district excise heads of the 15 top revenue generating districts where the Part-B liquor was to be sold and gave them detailed instructions related to the enactment of the plan.
Tripathi was the one who made arrangements with Vidhu Gupta for the supply of duplicate holograms. Investigations have revealed that a fixed amount per case went to Arunpati Tripathi out of the sale proceeds of the Part-B liquor.
The ED investigation revealed that the corruption in the liquor scam, which ran between 2019 and 2022, was done in multiple ways :
In Part-A commission, bribes were collected from the distillers per case of liquor procured from them by the CSMCL (state body for the purchase and sale of liquor).
In Part-B (Kacha liquor sale), sale of unaccounted kacha off-the-books country liquor. In this case, not even a single rupee reached the State Exchequer, and all the sale proceeds were pocketed by the Syndicate. The illegal liquor was sold from state-run shops only.
In Part-C commission, bribes are taken from distillers to allow them to make a cartel and have a fixed market share.
Commissions from FL-10A licence holders were also introduced to earn in the foreign liquor segment.
The ED investigation also revealed that the Chhattisgarh liquor scam resulted in massive losses to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of the liquor syndicate with more than Rs 2100 crore illegal proceeds of crime.
Earlier, ex-IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Arvind Singh, and Trilok Singh Dhillon were also arrested by ED in the matter. ED has already attached 18 movable and 161 immovable properties worth approximately Rs. 205.49 crore in the ongoing investigation of the liquor scam.
Further investigation is under progress. (ANI)
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