Jharkhand: ACB arrests IAS officer Vinay Chaubey, Gajendra Singh in liquor scam case, BJP seeks CBI probe

Ranchi: Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on May 20 arrested IAS officer Vinay Chaubey in connection with the alleged excise scam case, officials said. Other than Chaubey, joint commissioner of Excise Department Gajendra Singh has also been arrested by ACB.

Chaubey, who previously held the position of Secretary of the Jharkhand Excise Department and managing director of Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited, had earlier been named in a case registered by the Chhattisgarh ACB in September 2024.

He had also served as the Secretary to Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the latter’s previous term and is currently serving as the Principal Secretary of the Panchayati Raj Department.

Both the officials were held after the state’s ACB initiated a preliminary enquiry into the matter based on a case registered by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Chhattisgarh ACB.

The ACB has accused Chaubey and Singh for deceiving the state government leading to loss of crores of rupees to state exchequer. Following their arrests, both Chaubey and Singh have been sent into judicial custody for 15 days.

Chaubey was reportedly detained from his residential chamber on Tuesday morning for enquiry and was subsequently taken into custody.

#WATCH | Ranchi | Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Jharkhand, has arrested IAS Vinay Chaubey in connection with the liquor scam case pic.twitter.com/tQw5ZAIMwQ

— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2025

Earlier, in October 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also conducted raids at the premises of Chaubey and others in connection with the alleged liquor scam in Jharkhand’s Ranchi.

Former CM Marandi seeks CBI probe

Meanwhile reacting to the development, former Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Babu Lal Marandi has demanded a CBI investigation into the matter.

Taking to X, the president of BJP’s Jharkhand unit said that he had written a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren warning him about the liquor scam in state of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in the year 2022.

Marandi alleged that the government not only ignored his letter but also helped the liquor mafias of Chhattisgarh in carrying out a liquor scam worth thousands of crores in the state of Jahrkhand to benefit them.

He further raised doubts on the ongoing investigation while noting that when action is being taken by ED and CBI in Chhattisgarh, then how can the investigation being conducted by the ACB in Jharkhand be trusted?

मैंने अप्रैल 2022 में ही मुख्यमंत्री @HemantSorenJMM को पत्र लिखकर झारखंड और छत्तीसगढ़ में होने वाले शराब घोटाले के संदर्भ में आगाह किया था।

सरकार ने मेरे पत्र और चेतावनियों को न सिर्फ नजरअंदाज किया बल्कि छत्तीसगढ़ के शराब माफियाओं को लाभ पहुंचाने के लिए झारखंड में हज़ारों करोड़… pic.twitter.com/nYWt9cWswh

— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) May 20, 2025

He also alleged that a few people are being made scapegoat to save prominent people, likely due to fear of the ongoing CBI investigation in Chhattisgarh. The BJP stalwart also requested CM Soren to order a CBI investigation into the matter.

Case registered by Chhattisgarh ACB and ED raids

Chhattisgarh ACB in September last year registered a case against seven accused including Chaubey, retired Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arunpati Tripathi and others.

Notably Tuteja and Anwar are alleged to be the key men behind Rs 2100 crore liquor scam which flourished allegedly between the year 2019 to 2022 in the state of Chhattisgarh.

The EOW after completing its investigation into the matter wrote a letter to the Jharkhand government requesting to issue a prosecution sanction order against Chaubey and Singh. The Chhattisgarh government later handed over the case to CBI in April this year.

Earlier taking cognizance of the case, ED registered a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and subsequently raided 15 premises at Raipur and Jharkhand capital Ranchi including of Gajendra Singh and Chaubey in October last year.

Meanwhile Jharkhand ACB also initiated a preliminary enquiry into the matter and later filed a FIR based on the information received during the enquiry. The agency detained both Chaubey and Singh and questioned them for hours before eventually arresting them on Tuesday.