On May 6, Enforcement Directorate (ED) revealed that IAS officer Anil Tuteja, who was named in the NAN scam and being saved by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, is directly linked to a Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam. Tuteja is currently serving as joint secretary in Chhattisgarh’s industry and commerce department.

ED said in its application seeking remand of the kingpin of the scam Anwar Dhebar that an illegal liquor syndicate running in the state generated corruption money of over Rs 2,000 crores. The investigation agency told the court the money collected via corrupt means was used in election-related activities.

During its investigation, ED found that between 2019 and 2022, unaccounted illicit liquor worth 30-40 per cent of the overall liquor sales in the state was sold on the behest of the syndicate. While Anil Tuteja managed the money collected in the scam, Anwar Dhebar, brother of Raipur’s Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, was the kingpin of the syndicate and after the deduction of a specific percentage, all the money went to Anwar.

ED’s application in the court

In its application, ED mentioned that they received the Prosecution Complained filed by the IT Department along with documentary and digital data seized in search operations against Tuteja and others in the matter related to money laundering. Based on the analysis of the data by the ED, the investigation agency found there was a syndicate operating to collect bribes by controlling the high-level management of important State departments and SPSUs.

ED further noted that Tuteja was managing the affairs while Dhebar was the syndicate’s kingpin. They used their political connections to expand the syndicate across the state, particularly in the excise department. ED pointed out that they collected hundreds of crores in cash from “every possible point of access in a distributed hierarchical manner.” The actors involved in the scam would keep a small percentage of the collection and transfer the remaining funds to Dhebar.

Furthermore, the syndicate would allegedly keep their cut and send the money for the “benefit of the Political executives and electioneering.” ED alleged the loot “caused a massive loss to the State Exchequer and loss of central government taxes and in general loot from the local business community.”

Mentioning the family background of Dhebar, ED noted that he is the brother of Raipur’s mayor, who is under investigation by CBI in a murder case. Dhebar was allegedly running the syndicate at the behest of his political masters.

ED said during the investigation, the department found the syndicate was collecting a large number of bribes from liquor suppliers. They also collected bribes from other departments, including the food horticulture department and the PWD Department. ED said the retrieved messages from the seized devices showed how deep-rooted the syndicate was in different state departments.

ED said, “It was found that the corruption was systemic and so deep-rooted with multiple associates in different State Departments, that the accused persons and syndicate was forced to maintain detailed logs and accounts of the collected money lest there may be pilferage from the crime money itself.”

Every day, the officials would share the information in the form of detailed logs and accounts of the collected money on WhatsApp. Hey, we’re maintaining Excel Sheets to track illegal cash flow. They also found digital evidence depicting Dhebar gave Rs 14.41 crores to Tuteja.

There were three parts of the syndicate. Part A indicated the commission charged by liquor suppliers for selling liquor in the state. Part B indicated the off-the-record sale of unaccounted country liquor from Sinte-run shops. ED noted the sale was being made with the involvement of distillers, hologram manufacturers, bottle manufacturers, transporters, district excise officials and more. Part C depicted the annual commission collected from the distillers running businesses in the state.

The main aim of the forming Excise Department in the state was to regulate the supply of liquor and ensure the administration made ample arrangements to prevent hooch tragedies. Furthermore, it would have earned revenue for the state. However, Dhebar turned the whole department upside down, which resulted in the personal benefit of Anwar and others involved.

ED noted the syndicate comprised senior bureaucrats of the state, politicians and officials of the excise department. In February 2019, ITS officer Arunpati Tripathi joined the state-government-led Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL). Within three months, Tripathi was made the organisation’s Managing Director at the behest of Dhebar. He was given the job to maximise the bribe collection. Other IAS officers were also involved. IAS officer Vikas Agarwal and IAS officer Arvind Singh were included to collect money and logistics, respectively.

Manpower for the syndicate was provided by Sumcet Facilities Ltd, a company owned by an associate of Agarwal. The hologram contract was awarded to Prizm Holography and Films Securities Pvt Ltd. The task of cash collection was given to Tops Securities, owned by one Siddhartha Singhania, who was a close associate of Agarwal.

ED noted that in March 2019, Country liquor manufacturers Chhattisgarh Distilleries Limited, Bhatia Wines Merchants Private Limited, and Welcome Distilleries Private Limited met Dhebar and Tripathi. The distillers were ordered to pay Rs 75 per case commission. In return, Dhebar promised to raise their lending rates accordingly. The syndicate collected a huge amount in commission, and as CSMCL purchased the liquor, data was available. ED said a major share of the commission collected by Dhebar was given to a political party.

The syndicate also started manufacturing unaccounted kacha liquor. The syndicate decided to sell unaccounted country liquor as part of the conspiracy. It was being sold at state-run shops. Duplicate holograms were used to make them look original. Duplicate bottles were bought in cash and supplied to a distiller who would fill them and transport the illicit liquor skipping state-owned warehouses.

Dhebar set monthly targets. He would contact CSMCL MD or communicate through Arvind Singh. The senior excise officials would coordinate with the suppliers, including distillers, hologram makers, bottle makers, and transporters. Every month 200 trucks carrying 800 cases of country liquor were supplied by the distillers.

The liquor was supplied at Rs 560 per case. The MRP was Rs 2,880 per case. Over the years, it was increased to Rs 3,880 per year.

As it was not easy to extract money from Foreign Liquor makers and there was a demand for foreign liquor, Fl-10A licenses were brought into forte. Three known associates of Dhebar got the license. These license holders acted like collectors or intermediaries to buy foreign liquor and sold it to state-owned warehouses and generating a commission of around 10% from foreign liquor manufacturers.

ED said, “Investigation has established that more than Rs 2000 Crore of corruption money has been generated by this syndicate.” ED further accused Dhebar of being responsible for collecting every rupee of these proceeds with the crime.

On March 29, 2023, when ED raided Dhebar’s house, he was not there. Despite being called repeatedly by ED, he refused to join the proceedings. During the investigation, ED discovered that he had a secret trap door at his house, which he used to abscond when the ED team knocked at his door. Even his relatives were non-cooperative and refused to sign the search panchnama. They called many of their supporters and tried to mob the ED’s search team.”

ED noted Dhebar was head of the syndicate, but he was not the ultimate beneficiary. ED said, “He is only a private person who is not holding any position in the government. He was willing to get his way with the bureaucrats by using his proximity to the Mayor of Raipur and the Ruling Political Party. Entire Excise Machinery was subservient to him. This clearly shows that he drew his powers from the State Politicians.”

Anil Tuteja and NAN Scam

In 2015, during an investigation into allegations by Congress, the BJP-led Chhattisgarh government under then-CM Raman Singh unearthed NAN (Nagrik Apurti Nigam or Public Distribution Corporation scam) scam. Twenty-seven people were booked in the case, with Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla being the prime accused. A Chargesheet was filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2015, but then Congress came to power, and things changed for Tuteja.

Based on Tuteja’s allegations that the investigation was unfair, the Baghel-led Congress govt formed an SIT. Baghel has been since trying to personally shelf Tuteja and implicate Raman Singh in the scam. In 2020, soon after Tuteja was given bail in the case, he was appointed against by the Baghel government and became joint secretary of commerce and industries. On the other hand, Shukla was made principal secretary in charge of the education and other departments.

OpIndia’s investigation into the NAN scam

During our investigation, we accessed WhatsApp chats of Tuteja retrieved by the IT department. The chats clearly demonstrate that the entire criminal justice delivery system in the State is being abused, misused and mutilated at the behest of Anil Tuteja and his son Yash Tuteja.

It was further revealed there was a “hitlist” against political opponents, and the Chief Minister was trying not just to help Tuteja but also implicate Ex-Chief Minister Raman Singh and his family members, former Principle Secretary Aman Singh and his wife Yasmeen Singh, Former DG (Police) Mukesh Gupta, Ashok Chaturvedi and Chintamani Chandrakar.

Several officials were found to be dancing to the tunes of Tuteja. They were dependent on Tuteja for even the smallest things, like securing a gym membership for their spouses.

The chats also show that Tuteja was acting as the head of the NAN investigation, where he himself was the prime accused and was coordinating the transfer of IPS officers, promotions and other favours doled to those who were willing to participate in these nefarious designs. Further, those who did not comply were being given punishment posting or, worse, being implicated in false cases themselves.

In the submissions by Income Tax to the court against Tuteja and others, it was specifically mentioned there was a Hawala link.

While the NAN scam is elaborate, what is far more elaborate is the extent to which the Bhupesh Baghel administration seems to have gone to not only save the prime accused but also to implicate Raman Singh and others in the scam.

OpIndia’s detailed investigation of the NAN Scam can be checked here under The Chhattisgarh Files.