The Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing (ACB/EOW) has arrested a retired IAS officer in connection with an alleged liquor scam, an official has confirmed.
Niranjan Das, the former commissioner of the state's excise department, was apprehended for his alleged role in assisting the syndicate that managed and operated the fraud.
Das allegedly received undue benefits worth crores of rupees in return for the sale of unaccounted liquor in state-run liquor shops, transfer of officers, manipulation of tender process, cooperation in bringing in a flawed liquor policy and other ways to benefit the syndicate, he said.
According to officials, Das was a Chhattisgarh state cadre officer who was promoted to the Indian Administrative Service. He is the second former IAS officer to be arrested in the case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that a scam exceeding ₹2,500 crore was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022, during the Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel. The ED is separately investigating the money laundering aspect of the fraud.
The ACB/EOW first registered a First Information Report (FIR) on 17 January of last year, naming 70 individuals and companies, including former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma and former Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand. This action came a month after the BJP defeated the Congress in the 2023 assembly elections.
So far, the EOW/ACB has filed one chargesheet and four supplementary chargesheets in the case, leading to the arrest of more than a dozen people.
The ED had previously claimed that a criminal syndicate in Chhattisgarh was extorting illegal commissions on liquor sales and was involved in unauthorised sales through government-run liquor stores. The anti-money laundering agency has already arrested several key figures, including Chaitanya Baghel, son of former CM Bhupesh Baghel; former minister and Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma; businessman Anwar Dhebar; former IAS officer Anil Tuteja; and Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi.
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