Liquor scam: ED raids 11 locations in Madhya Pradesh
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday launched search and seizure operations at 11 premises linked to various liquor contractors across Bhopal, Indore and Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.
According to official sources, the raids are part of an ongoing investigation into a multi-crore revenue loss scam. The agency initiated the probe based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed against the contractors for allegedly defrauding the government of Rs 49.42 crore between the financial years 2015-16 and 2017-18.
The authorities allege that the contractors manipulated treasury challans and unlawfully obtained No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to acquire liquor during this period.
Investigators found that the accused contractors deposited challans with small amounts into banks but left the “amount in words” section blank.
“In the prescribed format of the challan, while the amount in figures was filled in, the space for the amount in words was left blank,” a source said.
They said that after depositing the challans, the accused allegedly altered the documents by writing inflated amounts in words, effectively forging the records.
“These manipulated challans were then submitted either at country liquor warehouses or at district excise offices dealing with foreign liquor,” the source added.
