ED nabs ex-IAS officer Anil Tuteja, in Rs 2,000 crore Chhattisgarh liquor scam case

RAIPUR: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Sunday in connection with its investigation into the alleged Rs 2000 crore liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.

A local court remanded him in judicial custody for a day. He will be produced before a special PMLA court on Monday, where ED is expected to seek his custody for further investigation.

The central agency submitted a 16-page document outlining the grounds for Tuteja's arrest, describing him as the "architect of the liquor scam", and adding that businessman Anwar Dhebar -- brother of Raipur mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar -- orchestrated the syndicate with Tuteja as its driving force.

Tuteja and his son Yash were summoned on Saturday evening by Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to have their statements recorded in the liquor scam probe. They were questioned at the EOW/ACB office in Raipur.

ED questions ex-IAS officer & his son in liquor case
ED picked them up there and took them for questioning. In the morning, Yash was allowed to leave but Tuteja was placed under arrest and produced before the judicial magistrate first class (JFMC) court in the afternoon.

Tuteja, a 2003-batch IAS officer, retired last year. This arrest comes 12 days after Supreme Court dismissed a money laundering case against Tuteja and his son related to the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam. The court ruled that the charges against them did not fall under the schedule of PMLA, so there could be no "proceeds of crime" as defined by the Act.

The earlier FIR was based on an income-tax department complaint.

A day after the SC decision, ED initiated a fresh investigation into the liquor scam, which is alleged to involve some top bureaucrats and politicians. The EOW/ACB registered this FIR on Jan 17, around a month after BJP formed the govt.

Earlier, ED had initiated proceedings under PMLA during the tenure of the previous Congress government in Chhattisgarh, under then CM Bhupesh Baghel.

In its prosecution complaint filed before the PMLA court, ED alleged that a "criminal syndicate", comprising senior government officials, politicians, and private individuals had profited Rs 2,161 crore by establishing an illicit system for selling liquor between 2019 and 2022.

It was claimed that bribes were received from distillers for every case of liquor procured from the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited, and country liquor was sold off the books.
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