Known for its mesmerizing landscapes, rich minerals and traditional Vanvasis customs, some of which have been celebrated and being practiced for thousands of years by the Vanvasi community, the tribal-dominated state of Chhattisgarh is all set to elect its new government after the state assembly elections scheduled to be held in November this year. The state, which has so far witnessed fifteen years of rule under the BJP and eight years of rule under the Congress including the incumbent Congress government, which is all set to complete its five year tenure for the first time in the state, is now under the heat of an ongoing tussle between the BJP and the Bhupesh Baghel led Congress party. On one hand, the Congress government is counting on the mass appeal of their leaders like Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and TS Singh Deo after the duo recently claimed to have settled their differences. On the other hand, the main opposition BJP is heading in the elections alleging wide scale corruption during the tenure of the incumbent Congress government. It is to be noted that the mineral-rich state, which is also one of the top producers of rice, has grabbed the attention of the media lately for all the wrong reasons. The BJP hit the streets a number of times alleging that a number of scams, including the coal, liquor, Public Service Distributor (PSD), scams flourished and felicitated by the coal, liquor and other syndicates in cooperation with a few top government officials in the state. Now that the state assembly elections are approaching, here are the details of the alleged scams labeled by the opposition BJP and the Congress government’s rebuttal to them:- Rs 2000 crore liquor scam One of the biggest alleged scams that have also turned the heads of the national media lately is the Rs 2000 crore liquor scam that flourished right under the nose of the incumbent Congress government, as claimed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). According to the findings of the agency, a Rs 2000 crore liquor scam in the state being operated by a cartel composed of bureaucrats, private liquor suppliers, government officials and persons with heavy political backing flourished in the state with Anwar Dhebar as its kingpin. The ED investigation in the case has so far revealed that one company namely M/s Prizm Holography Security Films Private Limited based at Noida, was illegally granted a tender to supply Holograms to the Excise department of Chhattisgarh. The company was not eligible to participate in the tender process, but in connivance with the company’s owner the senior officials of the state of Chhattisgarh namely Arun Pati Tripathi ITS (Special Secretary Excise), Niranjan Das (Excise Commissioner), Anil Tuteja IAS modified the tender condition and illegally allotted the tender to the M/s Prizm Holography Security Films Private Limited Noida. As a quid pro quo, they took a commission of 8 paise per hologram and also took a commitment to supply unaccounted duplicate holograms to carry out a sinister crime of selling illegal country liquor bottles from state-run shops in Chhattisgarh. The hologram was a safety feature to ensure that authenticated liquor is sold in the state. But the action of M/s Prizm Holography in manufacturing duplicate Holograms in Noida, allowed the Liquor syndicate to use the very same safety feature to fool the gullible general customers. Investigation has revealed that tender was allotted to this company as part of the criminal conspiracy and M/s Prizm Holography Security Films Private Limited was granted the tender in order to ensure a smooth supply of duplicate holograms to the liquor syndicate. The Holograms were made at the Noida factory and then transported to Chhattisgarh as per the instructions from the Liquor syndicate leaders. The syndicate, as part of the arrangement, allotted the contract of supplying 80 crore holograms in 5 years at a highly inflated price to M/s Prizm Holography Security Films Private Limited in return for an on-demand supply of duplicate holograms. The ED complaint also revealed that during the course of the investigation, Vidhu Gupta, the owner of the M/s Prizm Holography Security Films Private Limited, had admitted that both the original and duplicate holograms were manufactured in their Noida factory premises. Earlier on May 6 ED had arrested Anwar Dhebar, brother of the senior Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Ezaj Dhebhar and claimed that Anwar was the main kingpin on the ground in which around Rs 2000 crore was illegally generated by the criminal syndicate. Other than Anwar, ED had also arrested hotel promoter Nitish Purohit and liquor trader Triloki Singh Dhillon alias Pappu Dhillon alongside seizing proceeds of crime worth Rs 28 crore. The central agency in its submission before the court, had alleged that Purohit, promoter of a Raipur-based Giriraj hotel, was well aware of the illegal operations of Anwar Dhebar and had willingly assisted him in the movements of proceeds of Crime to IAS Anil Tuteja, another kingpin of the scam along with Anwar. The economic intelligence agency of the central government has so far also attached 119 immovable assets worth Rs 121.87 crore of Anwar Dhebar, Anil Tuteja, Arunpati Tripathi and others in connection with the multi-crore liquor scam of Chhattisgarh on May 22 this year. The total assets attached or seized so far in the alleged state scam stand at approximately  Rs180 crore. Earlier the apex court while hearing a petition of one of the accused in the case had stayed the ED probe into the matter and said that there should be no coercive action against the officers and if the agency wants to resume action they have to seek permission of the court following which the deputy director of ED’s Raipur unit approached the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police to initiate a probe into the irregularities by ‘Prizm Holography Security Films Private limited’. After the ED’s complaint UP police lodged a case under Kasna police station against Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer and a … Continue reading Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Will the multi-crore alleged scams pave way for BJP in Vanvasi dominated state?