ED summons 2 officers for questioning in 'liquor scam' in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has revealed that it is investigating a 'liquor scam' in Chhattisgarh, and has written to the state chief secretary, requesting for summons to be served on two officers, including one from the 2003 batch, and to instruct them to appear before the agency for questioning.
In the letter, dated April 15, ED's assistant director says that the agency is investigating a case against IAS officer Anil Tuteja and others under the provisions of Money Laundering Act 2002 in connection with the ECIR for probe into a 'liquor scam', a senior state government official confirmed.
The letter says that Arunpathi Tripathi, managing director of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL), missed the last summons on April 12, and Tuteja, who is a joint secretary in commerce and industries department, has not appeared on four scheduled dates. The ED has requested the chief secretary to "intervene as the head of the state machinery to ensure their presence".
Late Monday evening, the state government issued an order, posting a new person as MD of CSMCL until Tripathi returns from leave.
On March 31, ED officials had swooped down on the premises of Tuteja, Tripathi, some other officers and liquor businessmen. It appears that summons was subsequently issued to them to appear before the agency.
The ED letter to the chief secretary is the first time that the agency has officially said it is probing a 'liquor scam' alongside the 'illegal coal levy probe'. However, there is no information about the nature and magnitude of the 'liquor scam' or its modus operandi.
The ED had begun its probe in Chhattisgarh in October last year with searches on the premises of an IAS officer and several other officials and businessmen. The agency issued a press note to say that it was probing an 'illegal coal levy scam' being run by a cartel involving officials and businessmen. The agency maintained that the 'illegal extortion' was worth Rs 500 crore as the cartel demanded Rs 25 per tonne of coal transported.
In the coal levy scam, the agency has arrested Sameer Vishnoi, an IAS officer, Saumya Chaurasia who was then posted as deputy secretary in the CMO, and businessmen Surya Kant Tiwari, Sunil Agrawal, Laxmikant Tiwari. All of them are in judicial custody.