Chhattisgarh liquor 'scam': ED makes 2 fresh arrests, court extends custody of Raipur Mayor's brother

Two fresh arrests of a hotelier and a liquor businessman have been made and assets worth Rs 28 crore seized in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor syndicate scam in Chhattisgarh, the Enforcement Directorate said Thursday.

Nitesh Purohit, promoter of Giriraj hotel located in state capital Raipur, was arrested on Wednesday while Trilok Singh Dhillon alias Pappu Dhillon was arrested on Thursday, the federal investigating agency said in a statement.

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur sent Purohit and Dhillon to ED custody for five and four days, respectively, the ED said, adding an ''illegal surveillance'' was mounted on its team, using a drone, when it was searching Dhillon's premises on March 9.

Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, was the first person to be arrested by the agency in this case last week. Anwar Dhebar was also produced by the agency before the same special PMLA court on Wednesday at the end of his four-day remand period, and the court extended his custody by five more days.

His lawyer Rahul Tyagi on Wednesday said the court has directed the ED that the accused should not be harassed in any way. The court has also directed the agency to preserve audio and video recording of the interrogation to ascertain if any kind of torture or harassment was given to the accused, he said.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday accused the ED of trying to implicate him in the alleged liquor scam.

The ED has been acting as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the CM claimed while talking to reporters in Raipur. The agency told the court on Wednesday that Purohit was allegedly ''aware of the illegal operations of Anwar Dhebar and willingly assisted him in movement of proceeds of crime to Anil Tuteja (an IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre)'' and another person.

According to the statement, Purohit was ''a close associate of Anwar Dhebar and was involved in the handling and movement of illegally collected cash''.

''He was transporting cash as per the instructions of Anwar Dhebar,'' it alleged.

Speaking about the role of Dhillon, it said he was a ''prime beneficiary'' of the proceeds of crime through a ''classic'' model of money laundering. ''He willingly and knowingly allowed his bank accounts and firms to be used for layering large amounts of proceeds of crime. Without any reasonable explanation, he has taken funds through banking channels from the FL-10A licence holders falsely showing as unsecured loan and kept as FD.'' ''He (Dhillon) took kickbacks from major country liquor suppliers in the guise of business transactions and kept the money with him. The underlying business transactions shown have been found to be completely bogus,'' the ED claimed.

Fixed deposits of Rs 27.5 crore in the name of Dhillon's firms apart from Rs 52 lakh ''unaccounted'' cash have been seized, it said. The agency has alleged that money was ''illegally'' collected from ''every'' bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh and evidence of ''unprecedented'' corruption and money laundering of Rs 2,000 crore generated by an alcohol syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar have been unearthed.

The money laundering case stems from a 2022 income tax department charge sheet filed against IAS officer Tuteja and others before a court in Delhi. It has also been alleged that ''bribe'' was collected from distillers in the state on a per liquor case basis procured from the CSMCL (state body for purchase and sale of liquor) and country liquor was being sold off-the-books. ''In this (country liquor) case, not even Rs 1 reached the state exchequer and all the sale proceeds were pocketed by the syndicate. The illegal liquor was sold from state-run shops only,'' the agency alleged.

The agency has claimed that ''bribes'' were taken from distillers to allow them to make a cartel and have fixed market share. ''This cartel was exclusively a supplier (of liquor) for the state of Chhattisgarh,'' the ED said, adding that the ''commission'' was also generated from the sale of foreign liquor in the state.