Raipur
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) conducted raids at various locations in Chhattisgarh as part of their investigation into the alleged liquor scam and coal levy scam.
On Sunday, officials raided the home of businessman Avdhesh Yadav in Shiv Vihar Colony, Raipur. Yadav is reportedly involved in the liquor trade. EOW teams are currently searching two of his properties and examining documents.
In a separate operation, a 12-member EOW team raided the home of coal trader Jaichand Kosle at Ambedkar Chowk in Akaltara, Janjgir-Champa district. Jaichand Kosle’s father is a retired Assistant Director in the Mining Department.
An ACB-EOW team also conducted searches at Kosle’s residence in Avinash Smart City Colony, Sejbahar, Raipur. Kosle is believed to be a close associate of Saumya Chaurasia, the former Deputy Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Two days ago, the ACB-EOW arrested retired IAS officer Niranjan Das in connection with the liquor scam. Das, who served as the Excise Commissioner during the previous Congress government, is accused of playing a significant role in operating a syndicate. He allegedly received ₹50 lakh per month from the illegal operation.
Das was produced before a Raipur ACB-EOW court on Friday and has been remanded to EOW custody until 25 September.
According to the EOW, Niranjan Das, along with former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Special Secretary Arunpati Tripathi, businessman Anwar Dhebar, and others, allegedly formed a syndicate to run the scam. The EOW claims the syndicate caused a loss of thousands of crores of rupees to the state exchequer by setting commissions, producing extra liquor, supplying illegal foreign brands, and selling liquor with fake holograms.
According to the ED, the syndicate was formed in February 2019, when businessman Anwar Dhebar allegedly met with three distillery owners at a hotel in Raipur to set up a commission system. The accused allegedly divided the operations into three parts—A, B, and C—for accounting purposes.
The ED’s charge sheet states that liquor shop owners were instructed not to record the consumption of liquor in official documents. Liquor with duplicate holograms was supplied to shops without the payment of excise duty. The EOW’s initial investigation revealed that over 60 lakh boxes of illegal liquor were sold over three years.
In the coal levy scam, the ED alleges that over ₹570 crore was collected illegally through a network involving officials and politicians. The illegal collection was allegedly facilitated by making the online permits for coal transport offline. In this case, the ACB-EOW has registered an FIR against 36 people, including two former ministers and MLAs.
