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As per EOW sources, the arrested man, Niranjan Das, was an officer of the state civil service and was eventually promoted to IAS, before retiring over a year ago.
A 62-year-old retired IAS officer from Chhattisgarh, who had been posted as Excise Commissioner, was arrested on Thursday by the state’s Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB) for allegedly facilitating a Rs 3,200-crore liquor scam.
“We will be producing him before a court on Friday,” said Inspector General of Police, Raipur range, Amresh Mishra.
As per EOW sources, the arrested man, Niranjan Das, was an officer of the state civil service and was eventually promoted to IAS, before retiring over a year ago.
The liquor scam is alleged to have taken place between 2019 and 2022, during the Bhupesh Bhaghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh. It is alleged that a syndicate of senior state bureaucrats, politicians, and Excise Department officials facilitated illegal sale of liquor to the public, causing a loss of around Rs 3,200 crore to the state exchequer.
An EOW/ACB statement said, “Mr Niranjan Das is accused of assisting a syndicate active in the department, including the sale of unaccounted liquor in government liquor shops, the transfer of officials, manipulation of the tender process, cooperation in implementing a flawed liquor policy, and other means, thereby benefiting the syndicate and thereby receiving undue benefits worth crores of rupees.”
An FIR was registered by the EOW/ACB last year to investigate the criminal aspect of the alleged scam, while a parallel probe by the Enforcement Directorate is underway for probing the money laundering aspect. The ED recently filed a prosecution complaint against Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya Baghel in connection with its case.
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