Daijiworld Media Network - Raipur
Raipur, Jun 2: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets with a market value exceeding Rs 1,000 cr in connection with the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam, including a luxury hotel in Goa, land parcels and financial investments, marking one of the agency's biggest actions in the case so far.
The attachments were carried out through three separate Provisional Attachment Orders issued on May 28 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
According to the ED, the attached properties have a registered deed value of around Rs 200 cr and are linked to an alleged liquor syndicate that operated in Chhattisgarh between 2019 and 2023. The agency has alleged that the network generated proceeds of crime worth more than Rs 2,883 cr through manipulation of the state's excise system.
The money laundering investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Raipur.
The ED alleged that the syndicate was led by businessman Anwar Dhebar and retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja and functioned with the support of senior officials, distillery owners and private entities.
According to the agency, the group artificially inflated liquor procurement rates, facilitated the manufacture and sale of unaccounted liquor and extracted illegal commissions through FL-10A licences issued to favoured companies.
In the first attachment order, the ED attached immovable properties worth around Rs 30 cr linked to Anwar Dhebar and Vikas Agrawal.
The agency claimed that Agrawal acted as a key financial manager for the syndicate, collecting commissions from distilleries and FL-10A licence holders before routing the funds to Dhebar. Properties held in the names of Agrawal's family members have been attached as equivalent-value assets representing alleged proceeds of crime.
The ED also attached what it described as benami properties linked to Dhebar, including multiple plots in Dhebar City Homes in Raipur allegedly held through M/s A Dhebar Buildcon.
Five additional land parcels in Raipur held through entities such as M/s Shining Star Buildcon, M/s Moonlight Real Estate, M/s Swarn Infrabuild and M/s Jai Gurudev Infrastructure have also been attached. Investigators claimed these properties represented proceeds of crime generated and laundered through the alleged liquor scam.
One of the most significant attachments relates to Hotel Westinn Goa, a luxury hospitality property in Anjuna, North Goa.
The hotel, owned by M/s Pacifica Hotels India Private Limited, has been attached after investigators alleged that it was acquired entirely through proceeds of crime generated from the liquor scam.
According to the ED, the property was purchased for around Rs 110 cr using unaccounted cash. The agency alleged that the company is controlled by directors Rahul Agrawal and Vijay Kumar Agrawal and that the cash used for the acquisition was physically transported and delivered at the instance of Chaitanya Baghel.
In a separate attachment order, the ED froze bank accounts, shares and mutual fund investments linked to three FL-10A licence holder companies — M/s Om Sai Beverages Pvt Ltd, M/s Dishita Ventures Pvt Ltd and M/s Nexgen Power Engitech Pvt Ltd.
The agency alleged that these companies were forced to transfer between 50 and 60 per cent of their profits to the liquor syndicate. Assets worth approximately Rs 51 cr have been attached under this category.
The ED has also filed its sixth supplementary prosecution complaint before the Special Court under the PMLA in Raipur.
The latest complaint names four additional accused — Vijay Bhatia, T Bhuneshwar Rao, Probir Sharma and Nikhil Chandrakar.
According to the ED, Vijay Bhatia received a 52.5 per cent benami stake in M/s Om Sai Beverages under coercive circumstances, while Probir Sharma allegedly transported crs of rupees in cash on behalf of the syndicate.
With the latest prosecution complaint, the total number of accused arraigned in the money laundering case has risen to 85.
The agency said the investigation is continuing and efforts are underway to trace the proceeds of crime and identify beneficiaries linked to the alleged scam.
The allegations made by the ED are part of an ongoing investigation and are yet to be tested before a court of law.