22 Excise Officials Suspended in ₹3,200-Crore Liquor Scam in Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government's Excise Department has taken disciplinary action by suspending 22 out of 29 officials recently chargesheeted by the state’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in connection with a ₹3,200-crore liquor scam. The remaining seven officials have already retired from service. The large-scale scam, currently under investigation by both the EOW and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), allegedly involves a deep-rooted syndicate of senior bureaucrats, politicians, and excise department officials who collectively operated a parallel and illegal liquor trade network in the state.

According to the ED, which is specifically probing the money laundering aspect of the case, the scam functioned through a parallel excise system. In this system, liquor was sold to the public through government-licensed outlets, but the proceeds from those sales were not deposited into the state treasury. Instead, revenue from these illicit transactions allegedly went into private pockets, causing massive financial losses to the state.

The 22 suspended officials include three Assistant District Excise Officers, five Deputy Commissioners, ten Assistant Commissioners, three District Excise Officers, and one Assistant Excise Officer. Their names were mentioned in the supplementary chargesheet filed by the EOW on July 7. That chargesheet revised the estimated financial loss to ₹3,200 crore, a substantial increase from the previous figure of ₹2,161 crore estimated by the ED.

Between 2019 and 2023, these officials reportedly served as in-charges or held key positions across 15 major districts. During this time, they allegedly facilitated the sale of unaccounted duty-paid liquor parallel to legally sold liquor in government-run outlets. The EOW claims that several of these officials coordinated activities at the state level to maintain the flow of illegal liquor sales.

The EOW’s findings further reveal that under instructions from the excise syndicate, additional quantities of liquor were manufactured at distilleries and directly loaded into trucks. These were then dispatched to select high-sale country liquor shops without following the standard legal process of routing through government warehouses or depots. Moreover, no government fees or duties were paid on this liquor. The syndicate is said to have made huge profits, with excise officials allegedly receiving commissions on these illegal sales.

Former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma has already been arrested by the ED, which is also investigating the potential involvement of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his son Chaitanya. Both their roles are under scrutiny as part of the broader probe into the scam.

The ED began its investigation by filing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in January 2024 against the alleged mastermind Anwar Dhebar—brother of former Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar. Along with him, other high-profile individuals were also named, including retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, who served as Joint Secretary in the state government, and Arun Pati Tripathi, then Special Secretary in the Commerce and Industry Department and MD of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd. All three have been arrested by the ED as part of the ongoing investigation.

The scam highlights deep-rooted corruption and misuse of power at various levels in Chhattisgarh’s excise and political machinery, with continuing investigations expected to uncover further layers of complicity.