VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Dec 7: The key accused of the Delhi liquor scam had chalked out a detailed plan to expand their business in Jharkhand. They had made presentations before a senior and influential bureaucrat of the Hemant Soren government and had several rounds of discussions with the concerned IAS officer in the chief minister’s office. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating the Delhi Excise policy money laundering case, is understood to have stated this in its internal report.
However, the fate of that presentation and discussions is not known, but it has caught the attention of the ED. Well placed sources confided that the ED has got credible incriminating evidence that categorically suggest masterminds of the Delhi liquor scam were extending their network in Jharkhand. The CBI is also investigating this case. Both the agencies have filed separate chargesheet in this case. The CBI has booked deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia.
Well placed sources said that Arun Ramchandra Pillai, the owner of Hyderabad-based infrastructure company, Benoy Babu (General Manager, International Brands, Pernod Ricard) and Manoj Rai who is an ex-employee of Pernod Ricard were in regular touch and they were jointly working over a plan to capture the liquor market of Jharkhand.
The ED during the course of raid, seizure and investigation of the Delhi liquor scam got evidence as well as records of their conversations that reveal their plan for Jharkhand. Sources said that they had made some presentations before a senior bureaucrat. Arun Ramchandra Pillai is alleged to be the dummy of Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
The Arvind Kejriwal government introduced a new excise policy for Delhi in 2020 and the same was implemented in November 2021. The policy marked the departure of the government from selling liquor as the operations were handed over to private players. Delhi was divided into 32 zones and each zone had 27 liquor vends. The new policy had several attractive features like home delivery and opening of liquor shops till 3 AM. The most intriguing aspect of the policy is that sellers have liberty to offer unlimited discounts thus ending the system of selling liquor at government approved MRP. The Chief Secretary of Delhi government pointed out anomalies in the policy and sent a report to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. The Lieutenant Governor in July ordered a CBI probe in July and in the meantime the Delhi government announced to scrap the new liquor policy and revert to the old one. By this time the CBI conducted raids against Manish Sisodia, excise officials and private persons and filed an FIR on August 19 against 15 persons including Manish Sisodia.
Like Delhi, the Hemant Soren government introduced a new liquor policy. The state withdrew from the liquor trade.
