BJP Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi made a big attack on the state government regarding the Jharkhand liquor scam. Describing the Chief Minister responsible for the scam, he said that a year before, he had warned the Chief Minister about the loss of revenue due to the conspiracy by the officials of the Excise Department of Jharkhand to award tenders to the desired Chhattisgarhi companies. But even after knowing everything, he remained silent.
Marandi said that with the hidden consent of their silence, today these corrupt officers became successful in running a big scam. Now it is also understood that the State Government had brought the idea and team of liquor scam in Jharkhand from Chhattisgarh only to do maximum scam under a well thought out strategy. He said that in the Chhattisgarh Excise Department also, the same gang has done corruption above Rs 2000 crores, whose wire is also related to the officials of Jharkhand's Excise Department.
Even now, if the Chief Minister does not warn, then the heat of the investigation will reach him as well.
It will not be a surprise if the Chief Minister's soft corner and tacit support towards such corrupt people leads them behind bars.
On earlier occasions too Marandi had accused chief minister Hemant Soren of being mute towards the liquor scam in Jharkhand which led to a loss of Rs 450 crore to the state exchequer in the recently concluded fiscal year since the new liquor policy was introduced by his regime.
Referring to the recent crackdown against liquor scam in Delhi and Chhattisgarh, he said a similar scam has been committed in Jharkhand and that the chief minister is also an "equal partner" in it.
Recently, the ED, probing the liquor scam in Chhattisgarh under money laundering, interrogated two officers of Jharkhand at length in Raipur.
These officers include Jharkhand’s Excise and Prohibition Department Secretary Vinay Choubey and Commissioner Excise Karn Satyarthi. Both the officers have been questioned by the ED about the supply of liquor from Chhattisgarh. Liquor is being sold in Jharkhand under the new liquor policy on the Chhattisgarh model for the last one year. Due to this, the Jharkhand government had lost revenue of about 450 crores in the last financial year.
The kingpins of the liquor scam in Chhattisgarh are Arunpati Tripathi and Siddharth Singhania. Chhattisgarh’s counseling and placement agencies have been active in the sale of liquor under the new product policy implemented in Jharkhand last year.