1st Government Official To Be Arrested In Chhattisgarh's Alleged Liquor Scam

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested the special secretary of the Chhattisgarh Excise Department in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor syndicate scam in the state.

Arunpati Tripathi was arrested around 4:10 pm in Raipur, said the ED's lawyer Saurabh Pandey.

Tripathi is the first government official to be arrested in the case.

He was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court which remanded him in the agency's custody for three days, the lawyer said.

Tripathi, an Indian Telecom Service officer, is posted in the excise department on deputation. He is also the Managing Director of the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (which controls retail sale of all kinds of alcoholic beverages in the state), he said.

The scam involved selective grant of licenses to liquor manufacturers for commission, distribution of the collected money and collection of commission from liquor shops, he said.

He told the court that enough evidence was available against Tripathi regarding all three aspects, Pandey said.

The official will be again produced in the court along with co-accused Anwar Dhebar, Nitesh Purohit and Trilok Singh Dhillon alias Pappu (who were arrested earlier) on May 15, he added.

Anwar Dhebar, elder brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, was the first person to be arrested by the agency in the case last week.

The ED had earlier told the court that in May 2019, Tripathi was made MD of the CSMCL at Anwar's behest.

He was then assigned the task of maximizing the collection of commission on liquor procured by CSMCL and making arrangements for the sale of non-duty paid liquor in CSMCL-run shops, it said.

Tripathi was supported by Anwar and senior IAS Officers, the ED had claimed.

Money was collected for every bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh and evidence of "unprecedented" corruption and laundering of Rs 2,000 crore generated by the syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar has been found, the agency had said.

The money laundering case stems from a 2022 Income Tax department charge sheet filed against IAS officer Anil Tuteja and others before a court in Delhi.

The ED also alleged that "bribe" was collected from distillers in the state who supplied liquor to CSMCL to allow them to form a cartel.

"This cartel was exclusively a supplier for the state of Chhattisgarh," the ED said.

The BJP on Friday demanded Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's resignation, claiming that this `scam' could not have continued for more than four years without links to his government.

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