RAIPUR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Soumya Chaurasia, a suspended state administrative service officer who was deputy secretary in the CMO during the previous Congress government, in connection with an alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.The ED’s counsel, Saurabh Kumar Pande, told PTI that Chaurasia was arrested late Tuesday evening and will be produced before a special court on Wednesday.Chaurasia served as deputy secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) during Bhupesh Baghel’s tenure as CM.She is also an accused in the alleged coal levy scam and was arrested in 2022.She was released from jail earlier this year after being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in May.In the liquor scam case, the ED earlier arrested Congress MLA and former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma on January 15 this year, and Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on July 18 as part of its money-laundering investigation.The ED has alleged that Lakhma, 71, was the main recipient of the proceeds of crime, receiving large amounts of cash during his tenure as excise minister.It further claimed that Chaitanya Baghel was at the helm of the syndicate behind the alleged liquor scam and personally handled nearly Rs 1,000 crore generated from the scandal.According to the ED, the alleged scam was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 during the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government, resulting in a loss of more than Rs 2,500 crore to the state exchequer and illegal gains for members of the liquor syndicate.
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