The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets with a market value exceeding Rs 1,000 crore in connection with its ongoing investigation into the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The extensive enforcement action includes the freezing and seizure of a luxury hotel in Goa, multiple land parcels, and various financial investments. Carried out through three separate Provisional Attachment Orders issued on May 28 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the seizures represent one of the federal agency’s largest coordinated operations in the case to date.
According to agency officials, the attached properties carry a collective registered deed value of approximately Rs 200 crore. Investigators state that these assets are linked to an illicit liquor syndicate that operated systematically in Chhattisgarh between 2019 and 2023. The Enforcement Directorate alleges that the criminal network managed to generate illicit proceeds of crime worth more than Rs 2,883 crore by manipulating the state’s established excise system.
Alleged Liquor Syndicate Under Scanner
The wide-ranging money laundering probe stems from a First Information Report originally registered by the Economic Offences Wing and the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Raipur. According to the federal agency’s findings, the cartel was led by businessman Anwar Dhebar and retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja. The network reportedly functioned with the active support of senior government officials, local distillery owners, and select private entities.
The group allegedly deployed multiple methods to subvert the excise framework for illicit gain. Investigators claim the syndicate artificially inflated liquor procurement rates across the state, actively facilitated the manufacture and sale of unaccounted liquor, and extracted illegal commissions through FL-10A licenses that were systematically issued to favored companies.
Properties Linked to Anwar Dhebar Attached
In the first of the three attachment orders, the Enforcement Directorate seized immovable properties worth around Rs 30 crore directly linked to Anwar Dhebar and Vikas Agrawal. The agency claims that Agrawal functioned as a key financial manager for the cartel, executing the collection of illicit commissions from distilleries and FL-10A license holders before routing the collected funds to Dhebar. Properties held in the names of Agrawal’s family members have also been attached as equivalent-value assets representing the alleged proceeds of crime.
Furthermore, the agency has attached several what it described as benami properties linked to Dhebar. These include multiple real estate plots within the Dhebar City Homes development in Raipur, which were allegedly held through M/s A Dhebar Buildcon. Five additional land parcels in Raipur held through corporate entities such as M/s Shining Star Buildcon, M/s Moonlight Real Estate, M/s Swarn Infrabuild, and M/s Jai Gurudev Infrastructure have also been seized. Investigators state these properties represent proceeds of crime generated and laundered directly through the liquor scam.
Goa Hotel and Corporate Financial Assets Frozen
One of the most notable property seizures in the operation relates to the Hotel Westinn Goa, a luxury hospitality property located in the Anjuna area of North Goa. The hotel, owned by M/s Pacifica Hotels India Private Limited, was attached after investigators alleged it was acquired entirely through proceeds of crime generated from the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. According to the Enforcement Directorate, the property was purchased for approximately Rs 110 crore using unaccounted cash. The agency alleges that the owning company is controlled by directors Rahul Agrawal and Vijay Kumar Agrawal, and that the cash utilized for the acquisition was physically transported and delivered at the direct instance of Chaitanya Baghel.
In a separate, concurrent attachment order, the agency froze bank accounts, shares, and mutual fund investments linked to three FL-10A license holder companies identified as M/s Om Sai Beverages Pvt Ltd, M/s Dishita Ventures Pvt Ltd, and M/s Nexgen Power Engitech Pvt Ltd. The agency alleges that these entities were systematically coerced into transferring between 50 and 60 percent of their corporate profits directly to the liquor syndicate. Assets worth approximately Rs 51 crore have been provisionally attached under this financial category.
The Enforcement Directorate has also filed its sixth supplementary prosecution complaint before the Special Court under the PMLA in Raipur. This latest complaint names four additional accused individuals, identified as Vijay Bhatia, T Bhuneshwar Rao, Probir Sharma, and Nikhil Chandrakar. According to the complaint, Vijay Bhatia received a 52.5 percent benami stake in M/s Om Sai Beverages under coercive circumstances, while Probir Sharma allegedly transported crores of rupees in physical cash on behalf of the cartel. With the submission of this latest prosecution complaint, the total number of accused arraigned in the money laundering case has risen to 85. The agency stated that its investigation remains underway as efforts continue to trace further proceeds of crime and identify additional beneficiaries, though officials noted that the allegations remain to be tested before the court.
