Raipur: Former Chhattisgarh Excise Minister and five-time MLA Kawasi Lakhma has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days in connection with alleged liquor scam when Bhupesh Baghel government was in power in the state. Lakhma was produced in the court by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, after which he was sent to jail till February 4.
On January 15, ED had summoned Lakhma and his Chartered Accountant (CA) for questioning in the liquor scam case. But Lakhma did not come with his CA. The ED team was not satisfied with the information given by Lakhma during interrogation, neither did it get relevant information regarding the transactions due to the absence of his CA, which hindered the investigation process. Consequently, Kawasi Lakhma was arrested and he remained in ED custody till Tuesday.
According to ED's lawyer Saurabh Kumar Pandey, Kawasi Lakhma did not cooperate during the interrogation and provided evasive and irrelevant answers. The ED alleged that Lakhma received monthly payments of Rs 2 crore for 36 months from the illicit liquor trade, which amounts to an estimated Rs 72 crore. Pandey cited that statements from liquor businessman Arvind Singh and Excise Department officials corroborate all the allegations.
While seeking Lakhma's judicial remand for 14 days, ED mentioned that a lot of information is still to be gathered from Lakhma. Eventually, the court remanded him to judicial custody till February 4.
Clarifying over former CS Vivek Dhand's name surfacing in this case, the ED lawyer said that his name is not mentioned as an accused in the Enforcement Directorate.
"Liquor trader Arvind Singh had informed ED that every month Kawasi Lakhma used to receive Rs 50 lakh from the liquor trade. Even ED's Special Secretary Arun Pati Tripathi had told in his statement that along with Rs 50 lakh, Rs 1.5 crore was given by liquor cartels," the lawyer said.
The ED further claimed that excise officers Iqbal Khan and Jayant Devangan facilitated the transfer of funds to former minister Lakhma, while one Kanhaiyalal ensured the money is collected and delivered in Sukma.
