Latest news with #JharkhandAnti-CorruptionBureau
India Today
18-07-2025
- India Today
Licence to loot
On June 17, when the Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested former IAS officer Amit Prakash, he joined the ignominious ranks of two others who were arrested the previous month: serving IAS officer Vinay Kumar Choubey and former excise commissioner Gajendra Singh. All are now cooling their heels in judicial custody. So, what's brewing? A full-blown excise scam—vatfuls of it, in fact. And net losses are pegged at Rs 38 crore.
Hans India
20-05-2025
- Hans India
ACB interrogates IAS officer Vinay Chaubey in Jharkhand liquor scam
Ranchi: The Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was on Tuesday interrogating senior IAS officer and former Excise Secretary, Vinay Kumar Chaubey, in connection with the alleged liquor scam in the state. The move comes after the agency registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) into suspected irregularities in the excise policy implemented during Chaubey's tenure. Earlier in the day, an ACB team arrived at Chaubey's residence in Ranchi and escorted him to the agency's office for interrogation. Sources said that the questioning pertains to Jharkhand's excise policy, which was reportedly modelled on the controversial Chhattisgarh liquor policy, which is under the scanner for large-scale corruption. The Jharkhand scam is believed to be an offshoot of the Chhattisgarh liquor scam, where multiple senior officials of the State Marketing Corporation and influential businessmen were allegedly involved in a well-orchestrated syndicate to siphon off public money. The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW), along with the ACB in Chhattisgarh, on Tuesday, raided several locations focusing on individuals associated with the scam. Earlier in Chhattisgarh, the ED, also investigating the scam, reportedly discovered that the same liquor syndicate had expanded its operations to Jharkhand by influencing the formulation and implementation of the state's excise policy. Based on this finding, the Chhattisgarh unit of the ED had earlier interrogated Chaubey, given his role as the then Excise Secretary when the new policy was rolled out. Chaubey is said to have denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the policy had the approval of the state government. Later, a complaint was filed with the Chhattisgarh EOW by a Jharkhand-based individual, alleging that the same liquor syndicate orchestrated a similar scam in Jharkhand in collusion with bureaucrats. Acting on the complaint, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and, in October 2024, conducted searches at multiple locations linked to Chaubey and others. Following this, the ACB in Jharkhand sought and obtained permission from the state government to begin its probe.
New Indian Express
20-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Jharkhand ACB interrogates IAS officer in liquor scam case linked to Chhattisgarh syndicate
RANCHI: The team of Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is questioning IAS Vinay Chaubey in the liquor scam case at its headquarters in Ranchi. A team of ACB officials took Chaubey with them from his Ranchi residence at around 11 am on Tuesday for interrogation. Chaubey was the Secretary of the Excise Department at the time when the alleged liquor scam is believed to have taken place. The liquor scam in Chhattisgarh involves a Raipur-based syndicate which supplied liquor to Jharkhand using fake holograms, resulting in a scam worth crores. Former IAS officers Anil Tuteja, AP Tripathi, and businessman Anwar Dhebar are among the accused. The heat of the alleged liquor scam also reached Jharkhand between 2019 and 2022 and the name of Jharkhand IAS Vinay Chaubey was also named in this scam and made an accused along with the officials of Chhattisgarh. Notably, this case was registered by the investigation by the Economic Offences Wing based on the statement of a person named Vikas Singh, a resident of Argora police station area in Ranchi. He is the person who had accused Chhattisgarh officials Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arunpati Tripathi and others of causing a loss of revenue worth billions of rupees to the Chhattisgarh government by committing a liquor scam.
