Arrested Congress chief and former Chhattisgarh excise minister Kawasi Lakhma made Rs 64 crore within the alleged Rs 2,161-crore liquor rip-off, in accordance with a supplementary chargesheet filed by the state’s Financial Offences Wing (EOW) in a particular court docket in Raipur Monday.
Lakhma, a six-time MLA from Konta in Sukma district, was the excise minister within the state’s Congress authorities between 2019 and 2023. He was arrested by the ED on January 15 this 12 months.
In keeping with the ED, the alleged rip-off was orchestrated between 2019-22 by against the law syndicate which, in connivance with excise officers, extorted unlawful fee and carried out unauthorised sale of unaccounted liquor via authorities retailers.
The Chhattisgarh EOW has arrested 13 folks within the case and filed 4 chargesheets (three of them supplementary). Monday’s chargesheet was the primary in opposition to Lakhma within the case. “Beneath his safety, a well-planned rip-off was executed via departmental officers, associates and contractors… it has been proved that Shri Kawasi Lakhma has acquired Rs 64 crore as his share on account of the excise rip-off,” an EOW assertion stated.
Congress’s communications chief for Chhattisgarh, Sushil Anand Shukla stated, “From day one, the case was manipulated by ED and after two years, once they couldn’t discover something, the EOW began probing it. Their sole intention is simply harassing and defaming our leaders…”