Corruption
Liquor Scam Uncovered in Chhattisgarh: FIR Filed Against 7, Including Jharkhand IAS Officer
A major liquor scam has surfaced in Chhattisgarh, implicating high-ranking officials from both Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. According to a recent FIR, a syndicate led by Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arunpati Tripathi, and Niranjan Das conspired with Jharkhand officials to alter the state’s excise policy, causing significant financial losses to Jharkhand’s treasury.
Chhattisgarh’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) have registered an FIR against seven individuals, including a Jharkhand IAS officer, for their alleged involvement in the liquor scam. The FIR, filed on September 7 based on a complaint by Ranchi resident Vikas Kumar, names former Jharkhand excise secretary Vinay Kumar Chaubey and Noida-based businessman Vidhu Gupta among the accused. Notably, Vinay Kumar Chaubey previously served as the secretary to Jharkhand’s minister.
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Key Accused and Conspiracy
The FIR accuses former Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja, businessman Anwar Dhebar, former Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation managing director Arunpati Tripathi, and former excise commissioner Niranjan Das of forming a syndicate. This group is accused of colluding with Jharkhand officials to amend the state’s excise policy, allowing the syndicate to control tenders for the supply of Indian and foreign liquor, defrauding the Jharkhand government of crores between 2022 and 2023.
The syndicate allegedly engaged in multiple illegal activities, including supplying counterfeit liquor with fake holograms and illegally distributing foreign liquor through favored companies. The FIR claims that the syndicate received substantial illegal commissions through these operations.
Plot to Modify Jharkhand’s Excise Policy
The FIR outlines that Dhebar and Tripathi met with then-Jharkhand excise secretary Vinay Kumar Chaubey and other officials in January 2022. They proposed replacing Jharkhand’s existing contract system with Chhattisgarh’s distribution model, a move designed to enable the syndicate to generate illegal profits. According to the documents, a meeting was held in Raipur between excise department officials from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to finalize this criminal conspiracy.
As per the FIR, based on Tripathi’s drafted proposal, new excise rules were notified and implemented in Jharkhand. The Jharkhand Assembly even passed a proposal to facilitate these changes, and Tripathi was contracted as an advisor by the government. For his role, Tripathi was reportedly paid ₹12.5 million by the government.
Tampering with Tender Terms
The FIR further accuses Chaubey, 1999-batch IAS officer Gajendra Singh (then joint excise commissioner), and other officials from Jharkhand’s excise department of manipulating tender criteria to benefit the syndicate’s liquor supply and placement agencies. One such condition required bidders to have a minimum turnover of ₹1 billion over two consecutive financial years, a threshold that no existing firm in Jharkhand could meet under the state’s previous contract system.
Ongoing Investigation
The scam first came to in Chhattisgarh (2018–2023). Both the ED (Enforcement Directorate) and Chhattisgarh’s ACB/EOW are actively investigating this multi-state liquor scam, with the focus now shifting to how the syndicate operated across state borders to defraud the Jharkhand government.