ED arrests Arvind Singh, Trilok Singh Dhillon in Chhattisgarh liquor scam

Singh and Dhillon who were arrested on July 1 under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, have been sent to the ED Custody till July 6.

"ED, Raipur has arrested Arvind Singh and Trilok Singh Dhillon on July 1, 2024, under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 in the ongoing money laundering investigation into the Liquor scam in the State of Chhattisgarh," the central probe agency posted on X.

"Arvind Singh and Trilok Singh Dhillon were arrested on July 1, 2024, at Central Jail Raipur and later the Hon'ble Special Court (PMLA), Raipur granted ED Custody till July 6, 2024," it added.

Earlier in May, the ED provisionally attached 18 movable and 161 immovable properties worth about Rs 205.49 crore in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Rs 2000 crore liquor scam in the state.

The central probe agency recorded a fresh Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on the liquor scam based on an FIR registered by the state police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

"The attached properties include 14 properties in respect of Anil Tuteja, Ex-IAS worth Rs 15.82 crore; 115 properties in respect of Anwar Dhebar worth of Rs 116.16 crore; 3 properties in respect of Vikash Agarwal worth Rs 1.54 crore; 33 properties in respect of Arvind Singh worth of Rs 12.99 crore; one property in respect of Arunpati Tripathi worth Rs 1.35 crore; 9 properties in respect of Trilok Singh Dhillon worth Rs 28.13 crore, jewellery worth Rs 27.96 crore in respect of Naveen Kedia; movable properties worth Rs 1.2 crore in respect of Asheesh Saurabh Kedia/Dishita Ventures Pvt. Ltd.; and one vehicle worth Rs 0.13 lakh in respect of M/s Nexgen Engitech Power Pvt. Ltd," ED said in a statement.

The attached properties of Anwar Dhebar include Hotel Vennington Court, Raipur, which is run under the aegis of his firm, M/s A Dhebar Buildcon and a commercial building in the name of 'Accord Business Tower.'

As per the ED, the corruption in the liquor scam, which ran between 2019 and 2022, was done in multiple ways, including bribes that were collected from the distillers per case of liquor procured from them by the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (state body for the purchase and sale of liquor).

The alleged gang running the scam also sold unaccounted country liquor, and its sales were kept off-the-books, resulting in not even a single rupee reaching the state exchequer and all the sale proceeds being pocketed by the syndicate. The illegal liquor was sold in state-run shops, the ED said.

The bribes were also collected from distillers to allow them to make a cartel and have a fixed market share. A commission was also collected from licenced dealers of foreign liquor, said the investigating agency.

Earlier, Anil Tuteja was arrested on April 21 and is presently in ED custody. (ANI)