The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has announced the busting of Rs 2,000-crore liquor scam. Top politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh, where the Congress party is in power, allegedly helped run the scam.
The ED has also apprehended Anwar Dhebar, the brother of Raipur mayor Aijaz Dhebar, who is also a Congress leader. Anwar Dhebar is a key suspect in the case, and will remain in ED custody for four days.
The investigation agency had earlier conducted raids at several locations in March and recorded the statements of several people allegedly involved in the scam. The agency says it has gathered evidences of “first-time-ever corruption and money laundering to the amount of Rs 2,000 crores between 2019 and 2022”.
The ED said, “According to the PMLA investigation an organised criminal syndicate headed by Anwar Dhebar was being run in Chhattisgarh. Anwar Dhebar, is a private citizen, but he was backed and worked for illicit gratification of the top political executives and bureaucrats.”
Officials have accused Anwar of weaving an elaborate conspiracy and stitching a vast network of individuals and entities to carry the scam so that money was illicitly gathered from all bottles of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh.
