ED arrests former Chhattisgarh minister Kawasi Lakhma in liquor scam case
The Congress leader accused the BJP of falsely implicating him ahead of local body elections in the state.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested former Chhattisgarh Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma in connection with an alleged Rs 2,161 crore liquor scam, reported The Indian Express.
The six-time MLA from Konta in Sukma district was questioned at the Enforcement Directorate’s Raipur office for several days, the newspaper cited an unidentified official as saying.
The alleged scam occurred during the tenure of the state’s previous Congress-led government, of which Lakhma was a part.
It involved a criminal syndicate colluding with excise officials to bootleg alcohol into government liquor shops and extort illegal commissions from sales. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed the syndicate made a profit of Rs 2,161 crore.
While being taken to court, Lakhma told reporters: “Not even a single penny has been found from me but still they have arrested me. I was cooperating with them. The BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] is falsely implicating a poor man like me. But I will keep raising the issues of Bastar.”
On December 28, the Enforcement Directorate raided properties linked to Lakhma, including his residence in Raipur and his son Harish’s home in Sukma.
After the raids, Lakhma told reporters: “They asked me if I knew about the liquor scam. I said I saw it on TV and read about it in the papers but it did...
