Chhattisgarh liquor scam: ED raids Congress leader Ramgopal Agrawal’s residence

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided the residence of senior Congress leader and former party treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal.

Key points

• Agrawal is accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption in the state's excise administration between 2019 and 2023.
• Plenty of Congress leaders and workers gathered outside Agrawal's residence in the Audyogik Ward area of Raipur and protested against the ED action.
• The ED had earlier arrested Agrawal as part of its money-laundering investigation into the alleged liquor scam.
• The ED remarked he subsequently provided evasive replies in his statement.

Plenty of Congress leaders and workers gathered outside Agrawal's residence in the Audyogik Ward area of Raipur and protested against the ED action. They raised slogans against the Central administration and the agency.

Meanwhile, the ED had earlier arrested Agrawal as part of its money-laundering investigation into the alleged liquor scam. The agency remarked a substantial part of the alleged proceeds of crime, generated in cash, was delivered to Agrawal when he was the treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee.

"Investigation revealed that a syndicate comprising Anil Tuteja (retd IAS), Anwar Dhebar and Arun Pati Tripathi (an Indian Telecom Service officer) orchestrated a large-scale scam in the state's liquor trade and generated proceeds of crime of Rs 3, 000 crore through illegal commission on liquor sales, unaccounted country liquor sale, commission collected from distillers and from foreign liquor companies and against the grant of FL-10A licences, " the ED remarked.

According to The agency further, "statements recorded of the persons who handled and moved the cash have revealed that the cash was delivered, at the instance of Ramgopal Agrawal and through handlers of the syndicate, at Rajiv Bhawan, Raipur, the then office of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee".

Agrawal was earlier summoned for questioning. The ED remarked he subsequently provided evasive replies in his statement.

Taken together, the developments around chhattisgarh liquor scam: ED raids Congress leader Ramgopal Agrawal's residence point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.