Restricted by the Supreme Court from taking any action in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a complaint with Uttar Pradesh police, asking it to investigate irregularities by a Noida- based company for supplying duplicate holograms to the liquor syndicate in Chhattisgarh, which were allegedly used to dupe consumers.
The federal agency filed a complaint at Kasna police station in Gautam Budh Nagar, based on which a first information report (FIR) was filed on July 30, naming three Chhattisgarh government officials, including two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, Anwar Debhar, the brother of Raipur mayor Aijaz Debhar and businessman Vidhu Gupta, whose company got the contract to make the holograms.
The IAS officers named in the FIR, seen by HT, include Anil Tuteja, Niranjan Das and Arunpati Tripathi, who were posted in key posts in Chhattisgarh when the alleged irregularities took place. Tripathi, former managing director of the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited, and Anwar Dhebar were arrested by the federal agency in the case earlier.
The Supreme Court asked the ED on July 18 to “stay their hand in all manner” in the alleged liquor scam- linked money-laundering probe.
ED’s complaint stated that its probe found out that Prizm Holography Security Films Private Limited was illegally granted a tender to supply holograms to the state excise department. “The company was not eligible to participate in the tender process, but in connivance with the company owners, the senior officials of the state of Chhattisgarh, namely Arunpati Tripathi, ITS (Special Secretary Excise), Niranjan Das, IAS (Excise Commissioner), Anil Tuteja, IAS, modified the tender conditions and illegally allotted the tender to M/s Prizm Holography Security Films Pvt Ltd, Noida,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}ED’s complaint stated that its probe found out that Prizm Holography Security Films Private Limited was illegally granted a tender to supply holograms to the state excise department. “The company was not eligible to participate in the tender process, but in connivance with the company owners, the senior officials of the state of Chhattisgarh, namely Arunpati Tripathi, ITS (Special Secretary Excise), Niranjan Das, IAS (Excise Commissioner), Anil Tuteja, IAS, modified the tender conditions and illegally allotted the tender to M/s Prizm Holography Security Films Pvt Ltd, Noida,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}“As a quid pro quo, they took a commission of 8 paisa per hologram and also took a commitment to supply unaccounted duplicate holograms to carry out a sinister crime of selling illegal country liquor bottles from state-run shops in Chhattisgarh,” it alleged.
A hologram is a safety feature to ensure authenticated liquor is sold in the state, an ED official said, declining to be named. But the actions of Prizm Holography in manufacturing duplicate holograms in Noida allowed the liquor syndicate to use the safety feature to fool gullible consumers, he said.
“The ED investigation has revealed that a tender was allotted to this company as part of a criminal conspiracy. Prizm Holography Security Films Pvt Ltd (M/s PHSF from here on) was granted the tender in order to ensure a smooth supply of duplicate holograms to the liquor syndicate,” the FIR stated.
The holograms were made at a Noida factory and transported to Chhattisgarh on instructions from the “liquor syndicate leaders”, it said, adding that the “syndicate, as part of the arrangement, allotted the contract of supplying 80 crore holograms in five years at a highly inflated price to M/s PHSF in return for on-demand supply of duplicate holograms”.
Earlier, in its charge sheet filed in July first week, the ED said that ₹776 crore of the ₹2,161 crore collected in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam by Anwar Dhebar, the prime accused and brother of Raipur mayor Aijaz Dhebar, went to “political executives”. Dhebar had decided to replicate the same corruption model in Jharkhand as well, but “abruptly” stopped when the ED started looking into the irregularities, it added.
HT reached out to cabinet minister Mohammad Akbar, Anwar Debhar and his lawyer for a comment but did not get one immediately.