The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday morning conducted raids at premises linked to senior IAS officials in a money laundering case related to an alleged liquor scam in Ranchi and Jharkhand. ED officials conducted the raids against senior Jharkhand IAS officer Vinay Chaubey, Joint Secretary of Excise Department Gajendra Singh, and several of their close relatives, liquor traders, and other officials in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
The ED raids come with barely a fortnight left for the 2024 Jharkhand assembly elections. The raids were conducted in at least 15 locations. The money laundering case is related to an alleged liquor policy scam from 2022 when Choubey served as the principal secretary to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. He is now the Principal Secretary in the Panchayati Raj department.
The ED took cognisance of the case after an FIR by the neighbouring Chhattisgarh Police. The FIR was lodged against seven individuals.
What Is The Jharkhand Liquor Policy ‘Scam’?
The Jharkhand Liquor Policy Scam pertains to allegations of a “conspiracy” of an excise syndicate. The Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Chhattisgarh Police has alleged that policy changes were made in Jharkhand’s excise policy as part of a conspiracy. After this, the tender for Indian and foreign liquor in the state was also given to the people who were part of the syndicate.
In Jharkhand, country liquor with duplicate holograms was allegedly sold without any account. Along with this, the work of supplying foreign liquor was handed to agencies close to the “syndicate people” by changing rules in the requirements section of FL 10 A licence requirements. Under the new rules, an applicant for wholesaler’s licence had to have a turnover of Rs 100 crore for two fiscal years in a row.
Crores of rupees changed hands illegally as part of the transactions under the alleged liquor scam, claimed the ACB.