Jharkhand Excise 'Scam': Senior IAS Officer Vinay Choubey Held In Money Laundering Case

The 1999-batch officer had served on several key posts, including Secretary to the CM. Prior to his arrest, he was posted as Principal Secretary, Department of Panchayati Raj.

IAS officer Vinay Kumar Choubey was arrested by Jharkhand's ACB in a money laundering case related to an alleged excise scam.

Source : ANI

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) apprehended senior IAS officer Vinay Kumar Choubey on Tuesday in a money laundering case in connection with the alleged excise scam in Jharkhand, an official stated.

After hours of interrogation, Choubey was arrested and brought to the court of ACB special judge Yogesh Kumar. The 1999-batch officer had served on several key posts, including Secretary to the CM. Prior to his arrest, he was posted as Principal Secretary, Department of Panchayati Raj.

A probe into the allegation of irregularities in excise policy was initiated while he was serving as secretary of the excise department. The state government earlier permitted to filing of an FIR against Choubey, according to a report by PTI.

Following the development, a team of ACB reached the residence of Choubey in the morning and carried him to the headquarters for interrogation. Meanwhile, the ACB also interrogated the joint commissioner of the excise department, Gajendra Singh.

The premises of Choubey and Singh were raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of its investigation into the excise scam in October last year. In addition, ED launched its raid at the premises of multiple state government officials, liquor businessmen, and others.

The raid was conducted by ED at 15 premises in Ranchi and Raipur, the capital of neighbouring Chhattisgarh. It was conducted following the launch of a criminal case by the Jharkhand zonal office of the federal investigation agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED took note of a First Information Report (FIR) filed on September 7, 2024, by the Chhattisgarh Police’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Raipur. The FIR names several individuals, including Choubey, former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, brother of Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, Indian Telecom Service officer Arunpati Tripathi, and others.

Modeled After Chhattisgarh’s Liquor Policy

Indicating sources, news agency IANS confirmed that the investigation relates to Jharkhand’s excise policy, which is said to be modeled after Chhattisgarh’s liquor policy, currently under scrutiny for widespread corruption.

The Jharkhand case is considered an extension of the Chhattisgarh liquor scam, where senior officials from the State Marketing Corporation and prominent businessmen allegedly formed a syndicate to divert public funds.

On Tuesday, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) and Chhattisgarh’s ACB conducted raids at multiple locations targeting people linked to the scam. In earlier developments, the ED's probe in Chhattisgarh revealed that the same liquor syndicate had potentially influenced Jharkhand’s excise framework, expanding its corrupt operations into the neighboring state.