Raipur
Former Chhattisgarh Excise Minister and Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma has been arrested by ED in the much talked about liquor scam case. After a long interrogation, ED arrested Kawasi Lakhma and presented him in the court. The court has handed him over on remand for seven days. Will be presented on January 21.
On Wednesday, he was called to the ED office for the third time for questioning, during which he was arrested. The ED had initiated a probe into allegations of corruption and money laundering against Lakhma, and now scrutinized his bank accounts, properties and other financial information. Due to which many important evidences have been obtained.
According to the ED investigation, Lakhma is accused of illegally earning crores of rupees through the liquor scam. It is also alleged that Lakhma was getting a commission of Rs 50 lakh per month as illegal earnings from the liquor scam.
Other prominent accused in this scam include Excise Department officials, businessmen and many top government officials. During investigation, it has also come to light that illegal liquor was sold from government liquor shops between 2019 and 2022, causing huge loss of revenue to the state government.
Scam done by running syndicate
According to the ED investigation, during the tenure of the then Bhupesh Sarkar, the liquor scam was carried out through the illegal syndicate of IAS Anil Tuteja, Excise Department MD AP Tripathi and businessman Anwar Dhebar.
ACB is also investigating this matter. According to its investigation, from the year 2019 to 2022, illegal liquor was sold from government liquor shops by installing duplicate holograms.
Kawasi did not arrive with CA
ED officials had called Kawasi Lakhma for questioning for the third time. During this time, ED had asked Kawasi to bring his CA along with him but Kawasi Lakhma reached the ED office alone. Kawasi Lakhma told that he had gone out for some work due to which he did not come.
Kawasi said that not even a single penny was found from me.
After his arrest, Kawasi Lakhma told the media that ED had not found a penny from his house during the investigation. Have been forcibly trapped. This action has been taken in view of the municipal elections. BJP is behind this.
What is this matter?
The ED investigation into the liquor scam, which allegedly took place between 2019 and 2022, revealed that the illegal commission was generated through various illegal means.
According to the central agency, bribes were taken from distillers for each “case” of liquor purchased by Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL), the state body responsible for the purchase and sale of liquor.
The ED claimed that another way of making illegal profits was the sale of unaccounted country liquor.
It said no part of the proceeds reached the state treasury and were instead pocketed by the syndicate.
The ANI report quoted the ED as saying that illicit liquor was sold exclusively through state-run shops.
The ED also said that bribes were given to distillers so that they could form a cartel with a certain market share and even those involved in the foreign liquor segment were given bribes.
