Madhya Pradesh: Contractor arrested in connection with Rs 42-crore excise scam

Indore:  The anti-corruption squad arrested a contractor allegedly involved in an Rs 42-crore scam in the Madhya Pradesh Excise Department, police said.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Amrendra Singh told reporters here that on a tip-off, contractor Vijay Kumar Shrivastav (49) was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow.

The contractor was carrying a reward of Rs 20,000 on information leading to his arrest.

Singh said that Shrivastava had secured the contract of a liquor shop in Indore's MG Road area in lieu of Rs 7.30 crore during the financial year 2016-17. But he did not deposit this amount.

He said, "The liquor contractor deposited fake bank challans to the excise department against the payment of this amount, which led to a loss to the state treasury."

The officer said that the police have been investigating 16 liquor contracts given by the Excise Department.

So far, 12 people, including Shrivastava, have been arrested and some of the accused are still on the run.