Raipur, Oct 14 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh Economic Offence Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB) on Wednesday filed its 10th supplementary charge sheet in the alleged liquor scam, naming 20 persons including former state Congress treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal and 22 firms as accused.
The 27,000-page charge sheet and supporting documents were submitted before a special Prevention of Corruption Act court here, the state agency said in a statement.
According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the alleged liquor scam took place between 2019 and 2022 when Chhattisgarh had a Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government.
The latest charge sheet contains evidence related to illegal liquor production, transportation and sale, collection of commissions, hawala transactions and investment of proceeds of crime in firms, companies and properties, the EOW/ACB said.
Besides Ramgopal Agrawal, the others named as accused included Naveen Kedia, Rajendra alias Chunnu Jaiswal, Bhupendra Pal Singh Bhatia alias Goldy Bhatia, Prince Bhatia, Vidhu Gupta, Ashok Singh, Navneet Gupta, Satyendra Prakash Garg, Vikas Kumar, Rajiv Dwivedi, N Uday Rao, Ashish Saurabh Kedia, Sumit Kumar Malu alias Tinku Malu, Ravi Bajaj, Ashish Srivastava, Yash Tuteja, Akhtar Dhebar, B R Lohia and Kumar Bhai Thakkar alias Khanjan Thakkar.
According to the agency, Ramgopal Agrawal allegedly received, managed and transferred more than Rs 1,000 crore in cash in the name of party funds.
Yash Tuteja, son of former IAS officer Anil Tuteja (also an accused in the related liquor scam case), was found to have played a role in receiving illicit funds, routing them through family accounts and assets, and legitimizing their source through land transactions, the release said.
Evidence was also found regarding the nexus between Anil Tuteja and businessman Anwar Dhebar, as well as Yash Tuteja’s assistance in arrangements concerning these funds, it said.
Naveen Kedia, director of Chhattisgarh Distillery Limited; Rajendra Jaiswal, director of Welcome Distillery, and Bhupendra Pal Singh Bhatia, director of Bhatia Wines Merchants, were found to be operating in collusion with the syndicate, it said.
Commissions were paid in two categories, namely, ‘Part-A’ commission for the supply of legitimate liquor, and ‘Part-C’ commission based on supply areas/zones and market share, the release said.
Distilleries were allegedly made to produce additional quantities of country liquor without payment of excise duty. This liquor, described as ‘Part-B’, was supplied to government liquor shops using duplicate holograms and fake transport permits. Its sale was not recorded in official accounts, and the cash proceeds were collected separately and handed over to the syndicate, the agency alleged.
Vidhu Gupta and his company, Prism Holography and Security Films Pvt Ltd, secured the contract for hologram supply with the syndicate’s assistance. Duplicate holograms were manufactured alongside genuine ones and affixed to bottles containing ‘Part-B’ liquor, the charge sheet claimed.
Bottle suppliers Navneet Gupta and Satyendra Prakash Garg allegedly provided extra empty bottles for ‘Part-B’ liquor.
Transporter Ashok Singh delivered ‘Part-B’ liquor — alongside legitimate stock — to government shops using his own vehicles and those of associated transporters. The costs of this illicit transportation were adjusted through over-billing, the charge sheet said.
The agency estimated that 60,50,950 boxes of illegally sold ‘Part-B’ liquor in 15 districts had a gross sale value of around Rs 2,174.67 crore.
Vikas Kumar, Rajiv Dwivedi, N Uday Rao and B R Lohia allegedly assisted the syndicate in the illicit sale of ‘Part-B’ liquor.
For the supply of foreign liquor, a system for generating profits and commissions was established by introducing private entities — specifically Dishita Ventures, Om Sai Beverages, and Nexgen Power Engitech — as intermediaries between the manufacturing companies and CSMCL (Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited) which controls the sale of liquor in the state.
Sanjay Diwan’s firm Mahakal Enterprises was used to collect commissions from foreign liquor companies, the charge sheet said.
Even after the regular operations of NV Distillery (Siltara, Raipur) were suspended during the COVID-19 lockdown, the existing stock was illicitly transported and sold. Liquor was supplied to Hotel Grand Imperia, Hotel Shamrock and other hotel-bars by arranging laborers and vehicles through Amit Singh and Anurag Dhebar. This liquor was sold at prices exceeding the official rates, the agency claimed.
Cash proceeds from the illegal sale and commissions were routed through Vikas Agrawal and his associates to Sumit Kumar Malu, Ravi Bajaj, and other hawala operators. Subsequently, funds were made available in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Rajkot through hawala and angadia networks. Kumarbhai Thakkar, the operator of the Shreeji Angadia network, facilitated payments to Vikas Agarwal in Dubai, the charge sheet said.
Commissions and funds received from foreign liquor suppliers by Dhillon City Mall were invested in fixed deposits after being classified as unsecured loans. Through Dhillon Drinks, funds were routed to real estate projects of Baghel Developers and Associates, a firm of Chaitanya Baghel (Bhupesh Baghel’s son), by showing them as loans taken in the names of employees, the charge sheet claimed.
Agrawal is in judicial custody. A lookout circular has been issued against Lohia who is living abroad, the agency said.
Congress MLA and former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and Chaitanya Baghel were arrested by the ED and state agency last year in connection with the scam. PTI TKP KRK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.