ACB interrogates IAS officer Vinay Chaubey in Jharkhand liquor scam

Ranchi, May 20 (IANS) The Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was on Tuesday interrogating senior IAS officer and former Excise Secretary, Vinay Kumar Chaubey, in connection with the alleged liquor scam in the state.

The move comes after the agency registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) into suspected irregularities in the excise policy implemented during Chaubey’s tenure.

Earlier in the day, an ACB team arrived at Chaubey’s residence in Ranchi and escorted him to the agency's office for interrogation.

Sources said that the questioning pertains to Jharkhand’s excise policy, which was reportedly modelled on the controversial Chhattisgarh liquor policy, which is under the scanner for large-scale corruption.

The Jharkhand scam is believed to be an offshoot of the Chhattisgarh liquor scam, where multiple senior officials of the State Marketing Corporation and influential businessmen were allegedly involved in a well-orchestrated syndicate to siphon off public money.

The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW), along with the ACB in Chhattisgarh, on Tuesday, raided several locations focusing on individuals associated with the scam.

Earlier in Chhattisgarh, the ED, also investigating the scam, reportedly discovered that the same liquor syndicate had expanded its operations to Jharkhand by influencing the formulation and implementation of the state's excise policy.

Based on this finding, the Chhattisgarh unit of the ED had earlier interrogated Chaubey, given his role as the then Excise Secretary when the new policy was rolled out. Chaubey is said to have denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the policy had the approval of the state government.

Later, a complaint was filed with the Chhattisgarh EOW by a Jharkhand-based individual, alleging that the same liquor syndicate orchestrated a similar scam in Jharkhand in collusion with bureaucrats.

Acting on the complaint, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and, in October 2024, conducted searches at multiple locations linked to Chaubey and others.

Following this, the ACB in Jharkhand sought and obtained permission from the state government to begin its probe.

--IANS

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