THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
Raipur, Dec 27: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted its final prosecution complaint in the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam, naming 59 additional accused and taking the total number of people charged in the money laundering case to 81.
The complaint was filed before a PMLA court on Friday in compliance with directions issued by the Supreme Court, ED counsel Saurabh Kumar Pande said, adding that the agency had earlier filed prosecution complaints against 22 accused after completing investigations into their roles, several of whom were arrested.
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The ED has estimated the proceeds of crime in the case at around ₹3,000 crore.
Senior Officials and CMO Link Named
With the probe now concluded against the remaining suspects, the ED has moved court against 59 more individuals.
These include Soumya Chaurasia, who served as deputy secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office at the time, former IAS officer and then excise commissioner Niranjan Das, along with liquor licence holders, distributors and officials of the excise department.
Evidence and Alleged Role of Excise Commissioner
According to the ED, the prosecution complaint spans 315 pages and is backed by nearly 29,800 pages of documents.
The evidence cited includes banking trail records, documents indicating layered money laundering transactions, backdoor entries, purpose-driven accounting practices and digital material such as communication records.
Pande said Niranjan Das allegedly ensured the uninterrupted functioning of the liquor syndicate by facilitating its operations and preventing any punitive action, allowing the scam to run smoothly.
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Arrests and Political Angle
The agency alleges that the liquor scam was executed between 2019 and 2022, when the Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel was in power in Chhattisgarh, causing significant losses to the state exchequer while benefitting a liquor syndicate.
In connection with the case, the ED arrested Congress MLA and former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma in January this year, followed by the arrest of Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, in July.
The agency has claimed Lakhma was the principal beneficiary of the proceeds of crime, while Chaitanya Baghel allegedly handled close to ₹1,000 crore generated by the syndicate.
Several others, including businessman Anwar Dhebar — brother of Congress leader and former Raipur mayor Aijaz Dhebar — former IAS officer Anil Tuteja and Indian Telecom Service officer Arunpati Tripathi, were arrested earlier during the investigation.
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Parallel Probe by EOW/ACB
Parallelly, the state’s Economic Offences Wing and Anti-Corruption Bureau has registered a separate FIR to probe the corruption angle of the case. On December 22, the EOW/ACB filed its seventh supplementary chargesheet against Chaitanya Baghel, stating that evidence suggests he managed the proceeds of crime at a senior level and received an estimated ₹200–250 crore as his share.
The EOW/ACB has further claimed that ongoing investigations indicate the total proceeds of crime linked to the alleged liquor scam could exceed ₹3,500 crore.
