Enforcement Directorate raids IAS Vinay Chaubey’s residence in connection with Chhattisgarh liquor scam

Enforcement Directorate conducts raids on former IAS Vinay Chaubey in connection with Chhattisgarh liquor scam case

Updated - October 29, 2024 10:33 pm IST - Patna

Enforcement Directorate (ED) office. File

Enforcement Directorate (ED) office. File | Photo Credit: PTI

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) conducted searches at premises linked to Indian Administrative Service officer Vinay Kumar Choubey and others in connection with an alleged liquor scam in Jharkhand.

The Central agency conducted searches at more than 15 places in Ranchi and other districts on the basis of a first information report (FIR) filed against Mr. Choubey in Chhattisgarh. He was the Principal Secretary to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the Excise Department Secretary during the implementation of the 2022 excise policy in Jharkhand.

The Chhattisgarh Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) had filed the FIR against an illegal liquor “syndicate” in Chhattisgarh and its control over the liquor business in both States.

The FIR was lodged in Raipur against Anil Tuteja, the then Joint Secretary of Commerce and Industry Department, Chhattisgarh; Arunpati Tripathi, the then Managing Director of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited; Anwar Dhebar, a resident of Baron Bazar, Raipur; Arvind Singh, a resident of Bhilai; Director of M/s Sumit Facilities; Vidhu Gupta of Prism Holography and Security Pvt Ltd, Noida; Vinay Kumar Choubey, the then Secretary of Jharkhand Excise and Prohibition Department; Gajendra Singh, the then Managing Director of Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited; Joint Secretary, and other officials, besides agencies supplying manpower and liquor.

The FIR was registered under Section 420 and 120B of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018.

As per the FIR, in January 2022, Mr. Tuteja, Mr. Dhebar, Mr. Tripathi, and others conspired with Jharkhand government officials to set up illegal liquor business in Jharkhand.

A plan was made to sell domestic and foreign liquor in Jharkhand through the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited instead of the contract system. A meeting was held in Raipur after which the new product policy was implemented in Jharkhand on March 31, 2022.

Mr. Tripathi was also made a consultant in Jharkhand and for this, he was paid ₹1.25 crore by the Jharkhand government, the FIR says.

The syndicate received commission running into crores of rupees by selling domestic liquor with duplicate holograms in Jharkhand.

According to the FIR, Mr. Choubey and Mr. Gajendra Singh put a condition in the tender that the agency supplying liquor should have a turnover of ₹100 crore. In such a situation, where the contract system was applicable in the liquor business in Jharkhand, no company from Jharkhand could participate in the tender process.

Similarly, for the placement agency supplying manpower, an earnest money deposit amount of ₹49.67 lakh and ₹11.28 crore as bank guarantee were kept as tender conditions.

To participate in the tender, the companies were required to have experience of doing government work worth ₹4 crore in two years. In this way, Chhattisgarh companies Sumit Facility, Eagle Hunter Solutions, A2Z Infra were given work in Jharkhand.

It is alleged that fake holograms were used in the supply of liquor and no account was maintained. Due to the criminal conspiracy of the liquor syndicate, there was a huge loss of revenue in Jharkhand in the year 2022-23. In the preliminary investigation conducted after receiving the complaint by the ACB, Chhattisgarh, it has been found that by changing the rules, commission worth crores was taken from the owner of liquor companies.

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