Teams of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on liquor traders and contractors in Madhya Pradesh at multiple locations as part of an ongoing investigation into a liquor scam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which allegedly caused a loss of nearly Rs 49.50 crore to the exchequer during the 2015-16 and 2017-18 financial years.

According to sources, the scam came to light after an FIR was lodged by the state police against liquor contractors who were involved in forgery and manipulation of treasury challans to unlawfully obtain No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the acquisition of liquor during the period FY 2015-16 to FY 2017-18.

Advertisement

The sources said that the accused liquor contractors allegedly submitted challans of small amounts in banks, leaving the space for writing ‘Rupees in Figures’ blank. They later filled the blank space with higher amounts of money and subsequently submitted the forged copies of challans with higher amounts at the respective country liquor warehouse or at the district excise office in case of foreign liquor.

Sources said the raids were being carried out in Bhopal, Indore, Mandsaur, and Rewa cities of the state.

According to the sources, ED sleuths raided 18 locations at Indore, including the premises of alcohol contractors, Avinash and Vijay Srivastava, Rakesh Jaiswal, Yogendra Jaiswal, Rahul Chokse, Suryaprakash Arora, Gopal Shivhare, Lavkush, and Pradeep Jaiswal. ED teams reached areas including Basant Bihar Colony, Tulsi Nagar, and Mahalaxmi Nagar in the city for the raids.

An ED team also raided the residence of an alcohol trader, late Anil Trivedi, in Mandsaur’s Janata Colony. His son, Ansh, is currently handling the business.