Retired IAS officer Niranjan Das arrested in Chhattisgarh liquor scam

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau and Economic Offences Wing (ACB/EOW) on Thursday arrested retired IAS officer Niranjan Das in connection with the multi-thousand-crore liquor scam, ACB/EOW chief Amresh Mishra told TOI.Das, who formerly served as commissioner and secretary of the state excise department, is accused of playing a key role in enabling a syndicate that allegedly orchestrated one of the state’s largest scams.Investigators allege that Das received undue benefits worth crores of rupees for facilitating the sale of unaccounted liquor through state-run shops, manipulating the transfer postings of excise officers, adjusting tender processes to favour specific firms, and supporting a flawed liquor policy benefiting the syndicate.On Friday, the EOW and ACB produced Das before a special court in Raipur, which remanded him in EOW/ACB custody until 25 September for interrogation.Alongside Das, hotel businessmen Nitesh Purohit and Yash Purohit were also arrested in connection with the case. They were presented before the court later in the afternoon, where the agency sought a 14-day custody remand.The EOW stated that Das was instrumental in awarding tenders to ineligible firms, including a Noida-based hologram company, by altering bid conditions.

This allowed duplicate holograms to be printed and used in the sale of illegal liquor, causing massive losses to the state exchequer.Investigators allege that Das conspired with senior officials and businessmen, including former IAS Anil Tuteja, ITS officer Arunpati Tripathi, and businessman Anwar Dhebar, to expand the network and push for replicating the “Chhattisgarh model” of liquor operations in Jharkhand.Das reportedly drew monthly kickbacks of nearly Rs 50 lakh. His applications for anticipatory bail had been rejected multiple times before Thursday’s arrest. He will be produced in a local court on Friday, where the agency is expected to seek his custody.The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the money-laundering angle, has pegged the scam at over Rs 2,500 crore during the 2019–2022 tenure of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government.

The agency has already arrested several high-profile figures, including Chaitanya Baghel, son of former CM Bhupesh Baghel, in July 2025; former excise minister and Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma in January 2025; ex-IAS officer Anil Tuteja; ITS officer Arunpati Tripathi; and businessman Anwar Dhebar.The ACB/EOW registered its FIR in January 2024, naming more than 70 individuals and companies, including senior bureaucrats and politicians. One main chargesheet and four supplementary chargesheets have been filed so far, with over a dozen arrests made.