THE Enforcement Directorate Raipur Zonal Office (ED-RPZO) on Tuesday evening arrested Saumya Chaurasia, former Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, in connection with the multi-layered Rs 3,200 crore liquor scam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, triggering fresh tremors across the Chhattisgarh administrative and political establishment. Saumya Chaurasia This marks the second arrest of Chaurasia by ED-RPZO. She was earlier taken into custody on December 2, 2022, in the illegal coal levy case, another high-value financial crime that exposed entrenched corruption networks operating during the previous Congress government led by former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.

 

According to official sources, Chaurasia was arrested under Section 19 of the PMLA, with the offence punishable under Section 4 of the Act, after investigators established her alleged role in the possession, routing and utilisation of proceeds of crime generated through the liquor syndicate. Following her arrest, she was taken for mandatory medical examination and is scheduled to be produced before the designated special PMLA court. A 2008-batch State Administrative Service (SAS) officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, Chaurasia was considered one of the most influential officers in the Chief Minister’s Office during the Baghel-led Congress regime.

 

Her proximity to key decision-making processes placed her at the centre of governance, a factor that has now assumed critical importance in multiple high-profile probes spanning coal, liquor and administrative corruption cases. Senior ED-RPZO officials said the arrest followed sustained questioning and forensic scrutiny of financial trails uncovered during the probe into the liquorscam, which is estimated to have caused a revenue loss of over Rs 3,200 crore to the State exchequer. The scam allegedly operated through a cartelised system involving senior bureaucrats, political functionaries, liquor syndicate operators and shell entities, enabling illegal commissions, fixed market shares and manipulation of procurement and distribution mechanisms.

 

“She was summoned on Tuesday evening to record her statement under Section 50 of the PMLA. The investigation has revealed credible material indicating her direct link to proceeds of crime exceeding Rs 100 crore, generated from the liquor syndicate and subsequently layered and utilised,” a senior ED-RPZO officer told The Hitavada on condition of anonymity. The liquor scam probe gathered momentum after ED RPZO registered its Enforcement Case Information Report on the basis of predicate offences investigated by the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB).

 

Multiple senior officials, business intermediaries and politically connected individuals have already been arrested or chargesheeted, while cash, properties and other assets worth hundreds of crores have been provisionally attached. Investigators allege that the syndicate enforced exclusive supply arrangements, fixed commissions per case of liquor sold, and used hawala channels and shell firms to launder illicit earnings. Digital evidence, diaries, banking records and statements of approvers have formed the backbone of the case, with agencies indicating that further arrests and supplementary prosecutions remain likely as the money trail continues to widen.