Raipur, Oct 12 (IANS) The ED has filed a supplementary chargesheet against Ramgopal Agrawal, the then treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam case, an official said on Monday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Raipur Zonal Office, filed the supplementary chargesheet before the Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, on October 9, the official said in a statement.
The ED also issued a Provisional Attachment Order on October 8, attaching two immovable properties at Raipur valued at Rs 9.06 crore.
The then state Congress treasurer was arrested by the ED on August 11 in this case and is presently in judicial custody, said the statement.
The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the EOW/ACB, Raipur under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arun Pati Tripathi, Kawasi Lakhma and others, it said.
Investigation revealed that a liquor syndicate controlled the Excise Department and the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd (CSMCL) during 2019 to 2023 and generated Proceeds of Crime of more than Rs 2,883 crore through illegal commission on the supply of country liquor (Part A), sale of unaccounted liquor through government shops with duplicate holograms (Part B), annual commission from distillers (Part C) and the FL-10A licence mechanism for foreign liquor, it said.
The ED investigation revealed that a substantial part of the cash generated by the syndicate was handled by Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal and delivered at Rajiv Bhawan, the office of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee at Shankar Nagar, Raipur, on the directions of Ramgopal Agrawal, said the statement.
The cash was carried by persons associated with the syndicate and handed over at Rajiv Bhawan to Devendra Dadsena, the accountant working under Ramgopal Agrawal, the ED said.
Investigation has revealed that cash of about Rs 860 crore connected with the liquor scam was delivered through this channel, of which about Rs 72 crore remained under the control of Ramgopal Agrawal and was retained, used or distributed on his directions, the ED said.
Contemporaneous digital records of the syndicate, call detail records and statements recorded under Section 50 of PMLA corroborate the delivery mechanism and his role, the ED said.
His two flats in Anupam Nagar and Katora Talab in Raipur, valued at Rs 9.06 crore, have been provisionally attached as property of equivalent value, said the statement.
Earlier, in this case, the ED filed a Prosecution Complaint and six supplementary chargesheets before the Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, arrested nine persons including former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arun Pati Tripathi and Chaitanya Baghel, and attached, seized or froze assets worth more than Rs 601.28 crore, the ED said.
With the present attachment, the total seizure stands at about Rs 610.34 crore, and investigation into the identification of the other beneficiaries of the Proceeds of Crime is continuing, it said.
–IANS
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