Hotelier, son arrested in Chhattisgarh 'liquor scam'

Raipur, Sep 19 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing (ACB/ EOW) on Friday arrested a hotelier and his son in an alleged multi-crore liquor scam dating back to the Congress rule, an official said, two days after their protection against coercive action ended.

Nitesh Purohit, the owner of Giriraj Hotel, and his son Yash were arrested by the probe agency, he said.

On Thursday, Niranjan Das, a former Excise Commissioner, was also arrested in the same case, in which more than a dozen people have been named as accused.

The trio had been absconding since March 2024, the official said.

The Supreme Court had issued a stay order against any coercive action against the three in September 2024 and again in December 2024, he added.

Following issuance of ACB/EOW notices, they appeared before the agency's officers, but did not cooperate in the ongoing investigation, he said.

The trio was arrested after the order related to no coercive action against them was lifted by the Supreme Court on September 17, he added.

The father-son duo was key members of a syndicate who collected, stored and distributed illicit funds generated from the scam to government officials and private individuals, the official alleged.

The trio was produced before a special ACB/EOW court in Raipur which remanded them in the agency's custody till September 25.

Further investigation into the case was underway.

As per the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the scam to the tune of more than Rs 2,500 crore was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when Chhattisgarh was under the Congress rule and party leader Bhupesh Baghel was chief minister. The ED is probing the money laundering part of the scam.

The ACB/EOW had registered an FIR on January 17 last year in the scam and named 70 individuals and companies, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma of the Congress and ex-chief secretary Vivek Dhand.

The move came a month after the BJP defeated the Congress in the 2023 assembly polls.

The EOW/ACB has so far filed one chargesheet and four supplementary ones in the case and arrested more than a dozen persons.

The ED has said a criminal syndicate operating in Chhattisgarh was extorting illegal commission on sale of alcohol and was also involved in unauthorised sale through government liquor shops.

The central agency arrested Chaitanya Baghel, son of former CM Bhupesh Baghel, in July this year, while former minister and Congress MLA Lakhma was held in January in the scam.

Besides, the anti-money laundering agency also arrested businessman Anwar Dhebar, former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi, among others, as part of their investigations into the case. PTI COR RSY