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Hans India
14 hours ago
- Hans India
Bihar: ED conducts raids in illegal liquor case; seizes Rs 75.6 lakh cash
Patna: The Enforcement Directorate of Patna Zonal Office conducted search operations at seven locations in Gurugram, Ranchi, Naharlagun, Namsai, and Muzaffarpur in connection with a case of illegal liquor supply in Bihar. According to an official statement, the raids led to the seizure of Rs 75.6 lakh in cash, along with several incriminating documents, materials, and digital devices. The ED initiated its probe based on multiple FIRs and charge sheets filed by the Bihar Police under the Indian Penal Code against M/s Sunil Bhardwaj and others. Investigations revealed that Sunil Bhardwaj operates M/s Kala AMB Brewery and Distillery Pvt. Ltd. in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, and, in collusion with his associate Dorjee Phuntso Khrime from Arunachal Pradesh, created multiple entities to secure licenses for distilleries and liquor shops in Arunachal Pradesh. The ED alleges that these facilities, intended for legal sales within Arunachal Pradesh, were instead used to divert liquor into Bihar and other states in violation of prohibition laws. The agency said the accused also used these entities to open multiple bank accounts to receive payments from buyers, thereby generating large volumes of Proceeds of Crime. Earlier, on December 5, 2023, the ED had attached properties worth Rs 9.31 crore in the same case, followed by a prosecution complaint filed on May 19, 2025. Bihar has enforced total prohibition since April 2016, yet authorities say a significant portion of the illicit supply originates from Haryana, Punjab, and several northeastern states. According to an official of the liquor prohibition department of Bihar, liquor smuggling prominently takes place on the Siliguri-Purnea-Darbhanga-Gopalganj-Lucknow-Delhi national highway, and its supply chain spreads in every district. Besides, the Delhi-Kolkata National Highway 19 (GT Road) is also a major route for the smuggling of liquor in Bihar. The illegal traders of liquor are running this business to the tune of over Rs 20,000 crore per year.
The Print
a day ago
- The Print
This Bihar village head won a President's award for sanitation work. Now ED's knocking on her door
But the Enforcement Directorate has now found that her husband Bablu Mishra and his brother Sujit Mishra were key figures in one of the largest liquor syndicates in the state, sources in the agency told ThePrint. They were also connected to two people—Sunil Bhardwaj and Dorjee Phuntso Khrime—who ran an interstate liquor syndicate based in Arunachal Pradesh. Ironically, one of the houses searched by the agency belonged to the village head of Bishanpur Baghnagari, Babita Kumari, who a President's award for her work under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen Phase II. New Delhi: Probing a case of money laundering linked to a Bihar liquor syndicate, the Enforcement Directorate Wednesday raided seven locations in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, Arunachal Pradesh's Naharlagun and Namsai towns, and Gurugram and Ranchi. The money laundering case stems from several FIRs filed against them in Bihar, including one registered by the Kishanganj Police, which seized more than 7,000 sealed bottles of liquor being transported on a truck in the district. Based on further investigation, the Bihar Prohibition department took up the case and arrested Bhardwaj and Khrime from a hotel in Guwahati in November 2022. The ED also registered a money laundering case the same year and carried out raids in March 2023 at 12 premises, including residences of Bhardwaj and Khrime in Greater Noida and Itanagar, respectively. Searches were also carried out at their liquor manufacturing unit, which operates under the name Kala AMB Distillery and Brewery, in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district. Later in December 2023, the agency attached an industrial plot with a factory and building valued at Rs 5.31 crore, belonging to the Kala AMB Distillery and Brewery, as well as a plot measuring 22,504 square feet worth Rs 4 crore, belonging to Khrime. 'ED investigation further revealed that Sunil Bhardwaj and Dorjee Phuntso Khrime are using a web of their entities, claimed to be involved in the business of liquor, for supplying liquor manufactured/bottled by them into the state of Bihar illegally. Further, it is also revealed that the liquor was dispatched from the factory of Kala AMB Distillery & Brewery Pvt. Ltd. for Arunachal Pradesh, but the same was diverted to Bihar on the direction of Sunil Bhardwaj and Dorjee Phuntso Khrime,' an agency spokesman said in December 2023. Sources within the agency stated that Bhardwaj has been involved in the liquor business for decades and collaborates with Dorjee from Arunachal. 'Their module facilitates the dispatch of consignments of liquor from their facilities, including those in Solan, with a genuine E-way bill number to ensure the legitimacy of the transportation. However, they are selling these liquor parcels before they reach the purported beneficiaries. They were supplying to Bihar when one of their consignments was intercepted and seized,' an official explained. Model village head and President awardee The work of Babita Kumari, head of Bishanpur Baghnagari village, has been cited as a case study in the book 'Ripples of Change: Gender-transformative rural WASH programmes in India' by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti. The book, jointly published by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and UNICEF India, documents the impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) and Jal Jeevan Mission 'through the lens of gender empowerment, community leadership, and grassroots innovation'. The booklet noted that Bishanpur Baghnagari was declared a model gram panchayat under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen Phase II on 26 January 2023. According to the document, Babita Kumari worked closely with the District Water and Sanitation Committee. She successfully secured the release of funds from the 15th Finance Commission in time to settle the issue of payments to sanitation workers in her panchayat. She also successfully installed a waste processing unit on 4.5 acres of land to address the issue of open dumping of waste, in addition to achieving commendable success in other fields, such as improving water supply and sanitation in the panchayat. For her outstanding work, she won the President's Award for 'Swachhata hi seva' in October 2022. The book also notes the 'strong support' she got from her husband in achieving her goals as a 'mukhiya' of the panchayat. 'What sets her case study apart is the strong support she has received from her husband. Despite harbouring his own political aspirations since childhood, he chose to step aside, recognising that Babita's leadership as mukhiya could help them both achieve their dreams. Their partnership became a powerful example of male engagement in women's empowerment,' the book noted. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: The story of Bihar's two mafias—sand and booze
