Lucknow: The enforcement directorate (ED) lodged an FIR against one serving and two retired IAS officers of Chhattisgarh cadre and two managing directors of a private company after a probe was conducted in a Rs 1,200 crore scam in Chhattisgarh spanning from 2019 to 2022.
The FIR was lodged on Monday at Kasna police station with Noida police against special secretary, excise Arunpati Tripathi, retired excise commissioner Niranjan Das and retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, along with managing directors of Prizm Holography Security Films (PHFS), Vidhu Gupta and Anwar Dhebar.
The FIR was based on the findings of a joint probe conducted by ED and UP STF after the role of the Noida based hologram company had surfaced in the scam. The ED had arrested Arunpati Tripathi in May 2023 and attached properties worth Rs 121 crore belonging to retired IAS officers Anil Tuteja and Niranjan Das.
ED sources said that in this case, the company was illegally granted a tender to supply holograms to the excise department of Chhattisgarh.
“The company was not eligible to participate in the tender process, but in connivance with the company’s owners, the three senior IAS officers modified the tender conditions and illegally allotted the tender to Prizm Holography Security Films of Noida,” said ED.
“As a quid pro quo, they took a commission of eight paisa per hologram and took a commitment to supply unaccounted duplicate holograms to carry out a sinister crime of selling illegal country liquor bottles from state-run shops in Chhattisgarh,” the ED said.
The hologram was, in fact, a safety feature to ensure that genuine liquor was sold in Chhattisgarh. But the actions of PHSF in manufacturing duplicate holograms at Noida, allowed the liquor syndicate to use the very same safety feature to fool consumers, ED said.
The investigation has revealed that the tender was allotted to this company as part of a criminal conspiracy. PHSF was granted the tender to ensure a smooth supply of duplicate holograms to the liquor syndicate. The holograms were made at a Noida factory and then transported to Chhattisgarh as per the instructions from the liquor syndicate bosses.
The syndicate, as part of the arrangement, allotted the contract of supplying 80 crore holograms in five years at a highly inflated price in return for on-demand supply of duplicate holograms, said ED.
During interrogation, the private company’s MD, Vidhu Gupta in his statement admitted that both the original and duplicate holograms were manufactured in their Noida factory.
“IAS Arunpati Tripathi used to give me (Vidhu Gupta) a range of serial numbers of holograms which had already been printed and supplied to the excise department, government of Chhattisgarh. The duplicate holograms containing the serial numbers provided allegedly by Arunpati Tripathi were manufactured in our Noida unit and then transported by road to Chhattisgarh,” said ED, based on the confession of Gupta.
This supply of duplicate holograms enabled the syndicate to sell unaccounted liquor in Chhattisgarh during this period and cause a loss of Rs 1,200 crore to the state exchequer and illegal gain to the accused persons, the ED said.
Later, many companies complained about the allotment to then IAS officers Arunpati Tripathi and other accused, but it was brushed aside, the ED added.
The ED added that PHSF is not only providing holograms to Chhattisgarh, but also has clients across multiple states and other excise departments.
