Raipur, Jan 15: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former Chhattisgarh Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma in connection with a liquor scam exceeding Rs 2,000 crore on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the special court of ED sent Lakhma on judicial remand upto January 21. Lakhma, a six-time MLA from Konta and a member of the Bhupesh Baghel Cabinet, was taken into custody following raids at various locations linked to him.
Lakhma was summoned for questioning at the ED office in Raipur along with his Chartered Accountant, who failed to appear. Lakhma claimed he was out of town. However, ED officials detected significant illegal transactions in Lakhma's accounts. After he failed to provide satisfactory explanations, the former Minister was arrested and presented in court, sources said.
Despite the allegations, Lakhma maintains his innocence, stating, “Not even a single penny has been found from me, but still they have arrested me. I was cooperating with them. The BJP is falsely implicating a poor man like me. I will continue to raise issues affecting the poor and Bastar.” He further alleged that his arrest was orchestrated by Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah.
The ED claims that Lakhma received substantial monthly cash payments related to the liquor scam, estimated at around Rs 2,161 crore. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel criticized the arrest, suggesting it was politically motivated and directed by central authorities.
Lakhma's lawyer, Faizal Rizwi, expressed concern over the arrest of someone who has been cooperating with the investigation, calling it suspicious. The ED has presented Lakhma in a special court for further proceedings.
Meanwhile, ED lawyer Saurabh Pandey told media that accused Arvind Singh and MD of CSMCL AP Tripathi Lakhma used to get kick back (commission) in cash amounting to Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 Crore per month.
It has been also informed that Rs 72 crores received by Lakhma was used to construct house for Harish Lakhma and Congress Bhawan.
ED is probing the Chhattisgarh liquor scam amounting to more than 2100 crore rupees scam. On the ED report an FIR was registered with ACB in which it was claimed that an illegal syndicate of IAS officer Anil Tuteja, MD of Excise Department AP Tripathi and businessman Anwar Dhebar allegedly executed a liquor scam amounting to more than Rs 2100 crore. The scam allegedly occurred between 2019 -2022.
It was also claimed that illegal liquor was sold from government liquor shops by using duplicate holograms, which led to huge loss to the exchequer in terms of revenue in crores.
