In a high-stake crackdown that reshapes the contours of Chhattisgarh’s liquor scam investigation, the Enforcement Directorate Raipur Zonal Office (ED-RPZO) is emerging as the decisive architect behind the dramatic capture of Vijay Bhatia – the elusive businessman - implicated in the Rs 2,200 crore liquor scam. Sources privy to this high-profile and sensitive development averred to ‘The Hitavada’ that it was ED’s legally binding Look Out Circular (LOC), activated at India’s international exit points, that directly led to Bhatia’s interception at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi as he prepared to flee to Brazil. Despite the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB) rapidly flying Bhatia back to Raipur and bragging the high-profile arrest before the media, insiders confirm State agency had no direct operational role in the detention – it was the ED’s legal dragnet that shut Bhatia’s escape route.

 

The federal agency had issued LOC against Vijay Bhatia in early 2024 at the peak of its investigation into multi-crore liquor scam. Knowledgeable people in legal fraternity affirmed that the LOC, a critical tool in India’s anti-graft arsenal, functions as an immigration-level alert designed to flag high-risk suspects in financial crimes, money laundering, and economic offences.

 

As per statutes including the Passports Act, 1967, and the Foreigners Act, 1946, the ED – empowered by its federal mandate – placed Bhatia under LOC after two years of his evasion, particularly after raiding his properties in connection with crime case number 04/2024, registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120-B. According to officials, Bhatia had quietly slipped past surveillance, making his way to Delhi and booking tickets to an undisclosed Brazilian destination. “Without the ED’s LOC, SEOIACB’s two-year chase might have remained incomplete – or, worse,” sources confirmed. India’s extradition treaty with Brazil, in effect since 2015, covers economic crimes but requires intensive diplomatic paperwork and coordination. Following Bhatia’s detention at IGI, the ED alerted SEOIACB, urging the state bureau to formally arrest the suspect and transport him back for custodial interrogation under its liquor scam FIR.

 

SEOIACB complied, securing four-day police custody following a special court order, but privately conceded that the central agency’s LOC had decisively shifted the investigation’s momentum. Behind the headlines, the broader liquor scam probe has been steered by ED’s Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), which laid the groundwork for SEOIACB’s FIRs. The scam, active between 2019 and 2022, involved a network of bureaucrats, political figures, and business operatives using fake holograms to push illicit liquor through government shops, siphoning off over Rs 2100 crore in state revenue.

 

Key syndicate players include IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Excise Department MD AP Tripathi, and businessman Anwar Dhebar. Sources further disclosed that Bhatia’s web of criminal entanglements extends beyond the liquor scam. He has been flagged in the Rs 6000 crore Mahadev Online Betting App investigation, where the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched massive raids on March 26, sweeping 60 locations spanning Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Kolkata, and Bhopal, including the residences of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, top police brass, and senior bureaucratic aides. As the investigation deepens, SEOIACB’s operational shortcomings are now quietly under review. Despite conducting extensive raids on May 20 across 39 locations – including Durg, Bhilai, Dhamtari, and Mahasamund – and seizing Rs 90 lakh in cash, precious metals, and digital devices, the bureau failed to intercept Bhatia’s escape preparations. “The contrast between ED’s border control mechanisms and SEOIACB’s ground operations reveals crucial gaps that must be addressed,” sources underscored.