Ranchi (Jharkhand): An FIR, under Sections 420, 120 B of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2018, has been registered with Chhattisgarh ACB against senior officials of Jharkhand in a case of liquor syndicate. Apart from many senior officials, companies involved in the supply of liquor, manpower and making holograms in Jharkhand have also been named in the FIR.
It has been stated in the FIR that a plan was made for illegal earnings through the liquor business in Chhattisgarh. Under this, members of the syndicate, in connivance with officials of the Jharkhand government and the excise department, enforced the rule of selling liquor through the companies of Chhattisgarh instead of the contract system. For this, a meeting of the officials of the excise department of both the states was held in Raipur. After this, a resolution was introduced in the assembly. An officer from Chhattisgarh was also made a consultant in Jharkhand by paying Rs 1.25 crore.
To benefit a senior officer of Jharkhand and the members of his syndicate, a condition of turnover of Rs 100 crore was put in the tender for the liquor supply and placement agencies. In such a situation, where the contract system was applicable in the liquor business in Jharkhand, no company could participate. Similarly, for the placement agency supplying manpower, an EMD amount of Rs 49.67 lakh and a bank guarantee of Rs 11.28 crore were kept as tender conditions for 310 shops.
To participate in the tender, the companies were required to have experience in dealing in government works worth Rs 4 crore in two years. In this way, Chhattisgarh companies Sumit Facilities, Eagle Hunter Solutions, A2Z Infra were awarded the tender. The owners of all these companies gave the contract of manpower supply to Siddharth Singhania on their behalf. Instead of hiring new people, Singhania hired the people already working in liquor shops under the old contractors.
The FIR states that due to the criminal conspiracy of the liquor syndicate, there was a huge loss of revenue to the Jharkhand exchequer in 2022-23. In the initial investigation, it was found that by changing the rules, a commission of crores of rupees was taken from the owner of liquor companies.
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