IN A major development in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam, the State Economic Offences Investigation Bureau/AntiCorruption Bureau (SEOIACB) on Wednesday filed its tenth supplementary chargesheet against 20 individuals and 22 firms and companies before the Special Court in Raipur. The 27,000-page filing, dated October 14, follows the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) October 9 supplementary prosecution complaint against former Chhattisgarh Pradesh C o n g r e s s Committee Treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal. The State agency alleges that Agrawal received, managed and transferred over Rs 1,000 crore in cash under party fund arrangements. Earlier, ED alleged that Rs 860-880 crore reached Rajiv Bhawan, the Congress headquarters in Raipur. Agrawal remains in judicial custody. The accused individuals include Agrawal, Naveen Kedia, Rajendra Jaiswal alias Chunnu, Bhupendra Pal Singh Bhatia alias Goldy, Prince Bhatia, Vidhu Gupta, Ashok Singh, Navneet Gupta, Satyendra Prakash Garg, Vikas Kumar, Rajeev Dwivedi, N Uday Rao, Ashish Saurabh Kedia, Sumit Malu alias Tinku, Ravi Bajaj, Ashish Srivastava, Yash Tuteja, Akhtar Dhebar, B R Lohia and Kumar Bhai Thakkar alias Khanjan. Named entities include Chhattisgarh Distilleries, Welcome Distilleries, Bhatia Wines Merchants, Prism Holography and Security Films, Dishita Ventures, Om Sai Beverages and Nexgen Power Engitech. Investigators allege that distillers paid Part-A commissions on legitimate supplies and Part-C commissions linked to market share, besides manufacturing untaxed Part-B liquor. Vidhu Gupta’s Prism allegedly supplied duplicate holograms; Navneet Gupta and Satyendra Garg provided extra bottles; Ashok Singh transported illicit consignments using forged permits.

 

Manpower contractors Vikas Kumar, Rajeev Dwivedi, N Uday Rao and Lohia allegedly facilitated unrecorded shop sales. Of Rs 182.98 crore in additional agency payments, Rs 62.99 crore allegedly reached the syndicate. The bureau valued 60,50,950 cases of illicit liquor sold across 15 districts at Rs 2,174.67 crore. It assessed Part-A commissions at Rs 319.27 crore, Part-C commissions at Rs 52 crore, foreign liquor commissions at Rs 281.89 crore and FL-10A licensees’ gross profits at Rs 248.51 crore. These categories total Rs 3,076.34 crore, not a single cash recovery. FL-10A companies allegedly channelled commissions, including through Ashish Kedia’s Dishita Ventures, Sanjay Diwan’s Mahakal Enterprises and Shri Sai Prasanna Developers. Yash Tuteja allegedly assisted transactions involving Anil Tuteja and Anwar Dhebar; Akhtar Dhebar allegedly invested proceeds through unsecured loans. Hawala intermediaries Sumit Malu, Ravi Bajaj and the Shreeji Angadia network allegedly moved funds between Indian cities and Dubai. Investigators cited Sapphire Ispat, AJS Agro Trade, BNN Multimedia, Prime Developers, A Dhebar Buildcon, Indian Buildcon, Adip Empire, Jagdamba Enterprises, Adip Agrotech, Dhillon City Mall, Dhillon Drinks, Baghel Developers, Petroshan Bio Refinery and Ratnapriya IT and Media in suspected laundering and property transactions, including a Lanco Solar Power Plant acquisition. The filing also details alleged lockdown liquor sales involving NV Distillery, Hotel Grand Imperia and Hotel Shamrock. Lohia and Thakkar were chargesheeted in their absence; a lookout circular was issued against Lohia. Witness statements, bank transactions, property registrations, WhatsApp exchanges and forensic reports form part of the evidence cited by investigators. The bureau says further examination of beneficiaries, financial transfers and assets remains underway, while Interpol assistance is contemplated against absconding accused.