Former excise commissioner Niranjan Das arrested in Chhattisgarh liquor case

Niranjan Das, who served as Chhattisgarh excise commissioner , was arrested in connection with accusations that he received undue benefits

The Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday arrested the state’s former excise commissioner Niranjan Das in connection with the alleged liquor scam.

Niranjan Das was a state civil services officer who was promoted to the IAS (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Das, who served as commissioner of the state excise department, was taken into custody in connection with accusations that he received undue benefits running into several crores of rupees through the sale of unaccounted liquor in government-run shops, manipulation of tenders, transfer of officers, and support for a flawed liquor policy.

Das, a Chhattisgarh cadre officer who was later promoted to the Indian Administrative Service, is the second retired IAS officer to be arrested in the case. He will be produced before a Chhattisgarh court on Friday.

The alleged liquor scam in the state, according to officials, involved the illegal sale of approximately unaccounted and duty-evaded liquor worth ₹2,174 crore through state-run liquor outlets, under the protection and coordination of senior excise officials. The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating allegations of money laundering in connection with the case, has claimed that alleged irregularities resulted in a massive loss to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate with over ₹2,100 crore.