An alleged ‘scam’ of Rs 2,000 crore in Chhattisgarh, reportedly aided by high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats, has been exposed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The agency has apprehended a significant suspect, Anwar Dhebar, who has been remanded to ED custody for four days by a court in Raipur. Anwar Dhebar is the brother of Congress leader and Raipur mayor Aijaz Dhebar.
In March 2023, the investigation agency carried out searches at various sites and obtained statements from several individuals connected to the scam. The agency alleges that it has amassed proof of “unprecedented” corruption and money laundering worth Rs 2,000 crore that occurred from 2019 to 2022. ED says that money was collected on “every bottle” of liquor sold in the state by an alcohol syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar.
On Saturday, Anwar Dhebar was apprehended by the ED on allegations of violating the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was caught by authorities while he was attempting to escape through the back entrance of a hotel in Raipur. A specialized PMLA court granted the ED 4-day custody of him, despite his attorney’s assertion that the arrest was politically motivated. The lawyer has stated that they plan to approach the Supreme Court in response to the arrest.
The ED said, “Investigation found that an organized crime syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar was operating in Chhattisgarh. Anwar Dhebar, though a private citizen, was backed by and was working for the illegal gratification of high-level political executives and senior bureaucrats. He weaved an elaborate conspiracy and stitched a wide network of persons/entities to execute the scam so that money was illegally collected from every bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh.”
According to the ED, Anwar Dhebar was in charge of amassing the entirety of the illicit funds, but he was not the sole beneficiary of the fraud. As the agency put it, “It is established that after deducting a percentage, he had passed on the remaining amounts to his political masters.”
The agency said, “Excise departments are mandated to regulate the supply of liquor, ensure quality liquor to users to prevent hooch tragedies, and earn revenue for the State. But investigation revealed that the criminal syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar has turned upside down all these objectives.”
In Chhattisgarh, the state has a monopoly on all aspects of the liquor industry, including procurement and retail sales, with no room for private players. The ED said, “No private liquor shops are allowed. All 800 liquor shops are run by the state and the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) centrally procures all the liquor.”
The agency further said, “With the support of the political executives, Anwar Dhebar managed to get a pliant Commissioner and MD of CSMCL and hired close associates like Vikas Agarwal alias Subbu and Arvind Singh to make the system completely subservient to him. He controlled the entire chain of the liquor trade starting from private distillers, FL-10A license holders, senior officers of the excise department, district-level excise officers, manpower suppliers, glass bottle makers, hologram makers, cash collection vendors, etc., and leveraged it to extort maximum amount of bribes/commission.”
As per the agency, the purported liquor syndicate operating in the state with Anwar Dhebar’s involvement imposed a commission of “₹75-150 per case (varying by liquor type) that was meticulously collected from the suppliers for each accounted cash procured by the CSMCL.”
ED said that Anwar Dhebar was responsible for the collection of entire illegal money, but was not the only beneficiary of the scam. “It is established that after deducting a percentage, he had passed on the remaining amounts to his political masters,” they said.
The ED claimed, “Anwar Dhebar, in conspiracy with others, started getting manufactured unaccounted country-made liquor and selling the same through government-run shops. This way they could keep the entire sale proceeds without depositing even Re 1 in the state exchequer.”
It further said that between 2019 and 2022, this kind of “illegal sale was almost 30-40 per cent of the total sale of the liquor in the state and this act generated ₹1,200-1,500 crore of illegal profits”. The agency remarked, “This was an annual commission that was paid by the main distillers for getting a distillery license and a fixed share in the market purchase of the CSMCL. The distillers used to pay bribes as per the percentage of market share allotted to them. Procurement was done strictly in this ratio by the CSMCL.
