Raipur: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Economic Offense Wing (EOW) teams raided 21 premises in four districts in connection with the Chhattisgarh liquor scam on Thursday.
The sleuths have raided nine places in Raipur, seven in Durg Bhilai, four in Bilaspur, and one in Rajnandgaon, sources said. Following this, the EOW team arrested Arunpati Tripathi, former secretary of the Excise Department, from Bihar's Gopalganj.
After arresting Tripathi, both teams reached Raipur late night. Tripathi, who is the kingpin of the syndicate in the scam, will be presented to the court on Friday.
Along with him, EOW will also present Anwar Dhebar and Arvind Singh in court on the same day. They have already spent four days of EOW and ACB remand.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau issued a press release on Thursday evening with information about the raid. According to information, the team recovered Rs 19 lakh in cash, electronic devices like laptops, pen drives, bank statements, documents related to movable and immovable property, jewellery worth crores, investments worth crores in the bank, and several other important documents from the spot.
According to sources, these seized materials include general investment document of illegal property acquired from excise and insecured loans, and investments.
Soon after Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigated the case, EOW and ACB registered FIRs and interrogated the accused. As per the record, the investigating agency has arrested Arvind Singh and Anwar Dhebar, brother of Raipur Mayor Ejaz Dhebar, earlier.
The EOW and ACB teams have also raided the houses of two close friends of the former chief minister of Chhattisgarh.
