Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's former secretary Vinay Chaubey arrested in liquor scam (Lead)

Ranchi, May 20 (IANS) The Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday arrested senior IAS officer Vinay Kumar Chaubey in connection with the liquor scam, following a marathon interrogation.

He was later produced before a special ACB court in the civil court premises here.

This is the first time in over 15 years that the ACB has taken such big action against a serving IAS officer in the state.

Chaubey, currently posted as Principal Secretary of the Panchayati Raj Department, has previously held key positions, including Excise Secretary and Secretary to Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

The ACB raided Chaubey’s residence on Tuesday morning and brought him in for questioning around 11 a.m. The interrogation focused on alleged irregularities in the 2022 excise policy, which was modelled after the controversial liquor policy in Chhattisgarh.

At the time when the policy was implemented, Chaubey was serving as Jharkhand’s Excise Secretary.

Investigations suggest that the Jharkhand liquor scam mirrors the Chhattisgarh liquor scam, where senior officials of the State Marketing Corporation and prominent businessmen were implicated.

The Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) initiated the original probe, later taken up by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

During the investigation, the ED reportedly found that the same liquor syndicate involved in the Chhattisgarh scam had replicated the model in Jharkhand, tweaking the excise policy for its benefit.

The Chhattisgarh unit of the ED earlier interrogated Chaubey, during which he maintained that the excise policy had been implemented with the government's consent and denied any wrongdoing.

Subsequently, an FIR was lodged in Chhattisgarh by a Jharkhand-based complainant, alleging that the Chhattisgarh liquor syndicate orchestrated a similar scam in Jharkhand.

It is alleged that changes were made in Jharkhand’s excise policy to benefit this syndicate, which went on to secure key contracts, including for liquor supply and the hologram system -- causing significant financial loss to the state exchequer.

Acting on the FIR, the ED registered an ECIR and conducted multiple raids in October 2024, including on premises linked to IAS Vinay Chaubey.

Following this, the Jharkhand ACB sought permission from the state government and initiated a Preliminary Inquiry (PE).

Upon finding sufficient evidence of irregularities, a formal FIR was registered. Chaubey was summoned and interrogated again.

At around 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday, a medical team was called to examine Chaubey, following which he was officially placed under arrest.

--IANS

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