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Anchi: Jharkhand-corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday arrested Senior IAS officer Vinay Kumar Choubey and Joint Commissioner Gajendra Kumar Singh, Joint Commissioner of Excise Department for joining the alleged liquor scam in the state.The 1999 batch IAS officer, who was the secretary of Hemen Soren in his previous term as CM, Choubey, is currently Principal Secretary of Panchayati Raj Department. He served as the Secretary and Managing Director of the State Population Department of Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited during the Soren government, which brought it to the new excise policy of the state. ACB has accused Chaubey and Singh of cheating the Jharkhand government, causing a loss of Rs 38 crore to the state’s treasury. The ACB said that the authorities misused their positions, who said the ACB to select placement agencies under the liquor policy without following the rules. Before his arrest, the two officers were questioned in the ACB office for about five hours. He was then produced before the Special ACB court, which sent him to judicial custody till 3 June. The case against Choubey, Singh and others was registered under the relevant sections of prevention of corruption act.In October 2024, Ed raided the premises of Chaubey and Singh regarding the liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.BJP President of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi said, “I wrote to the Chief Minister in April 2022 and warned him about the liquor scams in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The government not only ignored my letters and warnings, but also helped to get out the ingredients for thousands of crores of people of Jharkhand.The former CM said, “The entire cabinet of the Hemant government enjoyed the visit to Raipur at the cost of the same liquor mafia. Now, when action is being taken in Chhattisgarh and the matter has reached Ed and CBI, how can the ACB investigate the juthend? A sacrifice to save the big fish.If Hemantji really wants to bring out the truth of the scam and has courage, he should order a CBI inquiry. ,
