Enforcement Directorate is now conducting raids in Jharkhand after Chhattisgarh as a part of the investigation into the liquor scam. Officials are looking into the entire situation from the perspective of money laundering. Large-scale raids in regard to this commenced on 23 August in Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The agency has intensified operations at 32 to 34 locations in both states connected to Jharkhand Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon, his son Rohit Oraon, and liquor baron Yogendra Tiwari since Wednesday morning. These bases are situated in Kolkata, Ranchi, Deoghar, Dhanbad and Dumka. The investigators conducted simultaneous searches at all these places beginning at 6:30 am and are still underway.
#WATCH | Ranchi | Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids the premises of Rohit Oraon, son of Jharkhand Minister Rameshwar Oraon, in connection with liquor scam.
— ANI (@ANI) August 23, 2023
Raids are going on at multiple locations including Ranchi, Dumka and Deoghar: Sources pic.twitter.com/jJFhX2WqRB
More than a dozen teams from the Enforcement Directorate were included in the aforementioned probe. The reason for the operation at the Jharkhand Minister’s premise was his son and his close association with the liquor mafia. Yogendra Tiwari’s booze business is believed to be heavily funded by him. Both the minister and his son live together in Ranchi.
The agency is reportedly conducting raids at seven different spots in Ranchi’s Harmu and Bariatu. Jamtara is also witnessing the same along with eight places in Deoghar. Yogendra Tiwari, his family members as well as several of his close friends have been the subjects of the investigation. Five distinct areas in Dumka City are the target of the raids.
The Tanishq dealership at Tata Dealership Chowk, Tiwari Automobile, Pappu Sharma’s home in Kumharpada and Anil Singh’s house close to Theka Baba Mandir are places where the action is going on. Pappu Sharma and Anil Singh work with Yogendra Tiwari whereas Tanishq Showroom and Tiwari Automobile are charged to be affiliated with him. Furthermore, there is information on the operation in the Gilan Pada office.
A huge crowd of people living nearby has gathered during the inquiry and elaborate security arrangements have been made as a result. A raid was carried out at the Kaushiki Radhika apartment in Bekarbandh, Dhanbad. There, the house of Yogendra Tiwari’s employee was searched. An investigation at Grewal’s Dhanbad apartment had also been executed.
A raid has been launched at the Jamtara residence of Yogendra Tiwari. The investigation team also visited Chianki, Rameshwar Oraon’s ancestral hamlet in Palamu, at the same time to search his family home. Simultaneously, raids took place at the Arya Inn Hotel in Mihijam and the office on the second floor of the State Bank of India (SBI) building in Palamu.
The raids are taking place all around that include the Deoghar home of the Congress leader and chief minister of United Bihar. The action is occurring at the house of Congressman and district-20 vice president Munnam Sanjay. An investigation team also reached the residence of Abhishek Jha, a land trader to conduct a raid. He is Pandit Vinod Nand Jha’s grandson, a former chief minister of Bihar.
There have been numerous searches at Yogendra Tiwari’s properties. A team is going over the documents in Deoghar’s Maihar Garden and Biscomaun Bhawan. Raids are taking place at the homes of a number of people, comprising land trader Abhishek Jha, Congress leader Munnam Sanjay, liquor baron Yogendra Tiwari, Minister Rameshwar Oraon and Nexagen showroom owner Vinay Singh.
Munnam Sanjay remained silent when approached for his reaction to the ongoing inquiry. Howvere, he refused to comment on anything. However, one of his coworkers stated, under the condition of anonymity that the papers found on the premise are being looked into and the gate has been locked from inside. Moreover, no one was allowed to leave.
According to Enforcement Directorate, a whopping Rs 2161 crore was generated in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The nexus comprised senior government officials, politicians and other individuals. It has caused a loss of a staggering Rs 2,161 crore to the exchequer. The agency found that between 2019 and 2022, unaccounted illicit liquor worth 30 to 40 per cent of the overall sales in the state was sold at the behest of the syndicate.
