Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam: Court Extends ED Custody Of CSMCL Chief & 3 Others

The Raipur court has recently extended custody of 4 people including the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) Chief Arun Pati Tripathi to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till May 19.

They were arrested by the central agency under the PMLA Act in connection with the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam in the state.

Arun Pati Tripathi, the Excise Department Special Secretary and former Managing Director of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL), businessmen Anwar Dhebar, Nitesh Purohit, and Trilok Singh Dhillon were produced before the special PMLA court judge Ajay Singh Rajput.

Therefore, the ED requested their custody, and the court granted it until May 19. Anwar Dhebar is the brother of Congress leader & Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar.

The Enforcement Directorate tweeted that it has seized and frozen assets worth around Rs 75 crore stating that the rest of the investigations are ongoing into the money laundering offense in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam.

The ED revealed in the first week of May that it is investigating a “liquor scam” involving money laundering amounting to more than Rs 2,000 crore by a syndicate that controlled & manipulated the entire chain of the liquor trade in the state.