Raipur mayor’s brother led crime syndicate that laundered Rs 2,000 crore, backed by politicians and bureaucrats: ED

He was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court and remanded in the ED’s custody for four days.

However, ED sources said Anwar is not the ultimate beneficiary, and the money went to his political masters. Defending his brother and reacting to the allegations, Aijaz told The Indian Express, “If they are making such allegations, tell them to provide evidence. Where is the laundered money? Why does ED not probe allegations of corruption against the previous BJP government? Why was no probe done in large-scale Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN), where state civil supplies corporation officials were involved? Why no probe on the Hindenburg report?”

Sources in the central agency said they conducted searches at multiple locations in March this year, recorded various persons’ statements and collected evidence of unprecedented corruption.

An ED source said, “Our investigation revealed that an organised crime syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar was operating in Chhattisgarh. Anwar Dhebar, though a private citizen, was backed by high-level political executives and senior bureaucrats. He was working for the illegal gratification of them. He weaved an elaborate conspiracy and stitched a wide network of persons/ entities to execute the scam so that money was illegally collected from every bottle of liquor sold in the state.”

The source added, “Revenue from liquor (excise duty) is one of the highest contributors to state kitty. Excise departments are mandated to regulate the supply of liquor, ensure quality liquor to users to prevent hooch tragedies and earn revenue for the state. But investigation revealed that a crime syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar has turned upside down all these objectives.”

As the state government in Chhattisgarh controls all the aspects of the liquor trade, from procurement to retail sales to consumer, no private liquor shops are allowed. The state government runs all 800 liquor shops.

Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) centrally procures all the liquor sold in Chhattisgarh, and the body issues tenders for manpower suppliers who run the shops, cash collection tenders, and selects bottle makers and hologram makers.

The ED source added, “With the support of the political executives, Anwar Dhebar managed to get involved in the CSMCL, and hired close associates to make the system completely subservient to him. He controlled the entire chain of the liquor trade, such as private distillers, FL-10A licence holders, senior officers of the excise department, district-level excise officers, manpower suppliers, glass bottle makers, hologram makers, cash collection vendors etc. He leveraged it to extort the maximum amount of bribes/commissions. Various other stakeholders also illegally benefited in the process.”

Explaining how the syndicate benefited from the scam, ED sources said they collected a commission of Rs 75-150 per case, depending on the type of liquor, from the suppliers for each accounted cash procured by CSMCL.

Secondly, Dhebar, in conspiracy with the others, allegedly started getting manufactured unaccounted country-made kacha off-the-books liquor and selling the same through government-run shops.

ED sources said this way, they could keep the entire sale proceeds without depositing even 1 rupee in the state exchequer. Duplicate holograms were provided. Duplicate bottles were procured in cash. Liquor was transported directly from the distiller to shops bypassing state warehouses. Manpower was trained to sell unaccounted liquor. The entire sale was done in cash. The entire sale was off the books, and sale consideration was siphoned off with everyone in the illegal chain getting its share, including distiller, transporter, hologram maker, bottle maker, excise official, higher echelons of the excise department, Anwar Dhebar, senior IAS officer(s) and politicians.

The ED investigation revealed that in the years 2019-2020-2021-2022, this kind of illegal sale was almost 30-40 per cent of the total sale of liquor in the state. This generated Rs 1,200-Rs 1,500 crore in illegal profits. This was an annual commission which the main distillers paid for getting a distillery licence and getting a fixed share in the market purchase of CSMCL. Distillers used to pay bribes as per a percentage of the market share allotted to them. Procurement was done strictly in this ratio by CSMCL.

Commission from FL-10A licence holders was also charged from foreign liquor suppliers. These licences were given to the associates of Anwar Dhebar, said ED sources.

It is estimated that Rs 2000 crore was generated by the syndicate in a short span from 2019 to 2022. Anwar Dhebar was responsible for collecting this entire illegal money but was not the ultimate beneficiary of this scam. It was established that after deducting a percentage, he had passed on the remaining amounts to his political masters.

Earlier, the ED had conducted search operations at 35 locations across Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Delhi, including the residential premises of Anwar Dhebar.

The ED source said, “Anwar was summoned on seven occasions, but he did not join the investigation. He was continuously using benami SIM cards, internet dongles, and changing locations, and after sustained surveillance, he was zeroed in at a hotel room of his close associate. There also, instead of accepting summons, he tried to run away through the back door but was caught while escaping by our team.”