Liquor ‘scam’: Court extends ED custody of excise official

Raipur: A special (PMLA) court has extended the ED custody of Chhattisgarh Excise Department Special Secretary Arun Pati Tripathi and three businessmen by four days.They were arrested by the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam in the state.Arun Pati Tripathi, the Excise Department Special Secretary and former Managing Director of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL), businessmen Anwar Dhebar, Nitesh Purohit, and Trilok Singh Dhillon were produced before the special (PMLA) court judge Ajay Singh Rajput on Monday. The ED had requested their custody, and the court granted it until May 19. Anwar Dhebar is the brother of Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar.The Enforcement Directorate tweeted that it has seized and frozen assets worth around Rs 75 crore stating that further investigations are ongoing into the money laundering offense in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam.In the first week of May, the ED revealed that it is investigating a "liquor scam" involving money laundering amounting to more than Rs 2,000 crore by a syndicate that controlled and manipulated the entire chain of the liquor trade in the state.