The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted seven raids at multiple locations in connection to the alleged Rs 20,000 crore Chhattisgarh liquor scam. Among many locations, the federal agency also conducted raids at the residences of former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma in Raipur.
This is the second time that the ED has conducted a raid at Lakhma's house. According to the details of the case, when Lakhma was the excise minister between 2022 and 2023, he took Rs 2 crore every month as the proceeds of the crime.
Earlier on August 20, the Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed 12 petitions by the accused challenging the cases lodged by the ED and the state's Anti Corruption Bureau/ Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal had completed the hearing on the petitions on July 10. In its ruling, the bench said, "From a perusal of the FIR and the ECIR in question, it cannot be said that no prima facie offence whatsoever is disclosed against the petitioners. Moreover, the material collected during the investigation goes to show that the nature of offences committed by the accused/ petitioners has caused huge financial loss to the state exchequer and the estimated proceeds of crime is around Rs 2,161 crore."
The case came to light after the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) registered an FIR in the case on January 17 this year. According to the ED estimates, the alleged "proceeds of crime" in the case at Rs 2,161 crore.
The ED filed a fresh money laundering case in the liquor scam case after the Supreme Court this year after the apex court quashed its earlier FIR that was based on an Income Tax Department complaint.
