ED arrests first government official in Rs 2,000 cr Liquor Scam

LI Network

Published on: 13 May 2023 at 00:12 IST

On Friday, officials from the Enforcement Directorate arrested Arunpati Tripathi, an officer of the Indian Telecom Services, in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, for his alleged involvement in a money laundering liquor scam worth Rs 2,000 crores.

This marks the fourth arrest in the case and the first arrest of a government official. Earlier, the ED had arrested the elder brother of the Mayor of Raipur in connection with the case.

Tripathi was presented before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, where he was remanded into the custody of the ED for three days. The ED has accused Chhattisgarh’s state-owned marketing company of not recording the supply of 40 lakh cases of country liquor by distillers in its books.

Instead, the company allegedly sold the liquor through its own vends to the general public at a rate of Rs 3,880 per case without earning any revenue for the exchequer.

According to reports, Arunpati Tripathi, who was recently arrested in connection with a money laundering liquor scam, was appointed as the Managing Director of CSMCL (Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited) in May 2019 by the state government, a few months after Congress came to power. Tripathi, who is an Indian Telecom Services officer, is accused of playing a pivotal role in the scam.

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