Chhattisgarh liquor scam: ED attaches properties worth ₹205 cr.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Friday stated that it has provisionally attached properties worth approximately ₹205.49 crore in the ongoing investigation of liquor scam in the State of Chhattisgarh.

The action follows the registration of a fresh Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in connection with the liquor scam which, according to ED’s claim, cost the State exchequer ₹2,161 crore during the tenure of the previous Congress government.

The second ECIR was registered on April 11, three days after the Supreme Court quashed the ˆrst ECIR which was based on a criminal complaint ˆled by the Income Tax Department before the Tees Hazari Court in New Delhi.

The second ECIR has been registered on the basis of an FIR registered by Chhattisgarh’s Economic O«ences Wing and AntiCorruption Bureau (EOWACB) this January.

In its statement, the ED further stated that it has registered 18 movable and 161 immovable properties linked to various accused, including businessmen and former bureaucrats. Of the ₹205.49 crore there are 115 properties “in respect of Anwar Dhebar worth ₹116.16 crore” and “14 properties in respect of Anil Tuteja, ex-IAS worth ₹15.82 crore,” the ED statement added.

The action follows registration of a fresh ECIR in connection with the scam which, according to the ED, cost the State ₹2,161 crore

Commissions, cartels

The corruption in the liquor scam, spanning 2019 to 2022 (i.e. when the Congress was in power), involved multiple facets according to the agency that involved commissions from distillers per case of liquor procured, o«-thebooks sale of unaccounted country liquor with proceeds pocketed by syndicates and allowing cartel formation among distillers, among others.