Arrested Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh excise minister Kawasi Lakhma made Rs 64 crore in the alleged Rs 2,161-crore liquor scam, according to a supplementary chargesheet filed by the state’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in a special court in Raipur Monday.
Lakhma, a six-time MLA from Konta in Sukma district, was the excise minister in the state’s Congress government between 2019 and 2023. He was arrested by the ED on January 15 this year.
According to the ED, the alleged scam was orchestrated between 2019-22 by a crime syndicate which, in connivance with excise officials, extorted illegal commission and carried out unauthorised sale of unaccounted liquor through government shops.
The Chhattisgarh EOW has arrested 13 people in the case and filed four chargesheets (three of them supplementary). Monday’s chargesheet was the first against Lakhma in the case. “Under his protection, a well-planned scam was executed through departmental officers, associates and contractors… it has been proved that Shri Kawasi Lakhma has received Rs 64 crore as his share as a result of the excise scam,” an EOW statement said.
Congress’s communications chief for Chhattisgarh, Sushil Anand Shukla said, “From day one, the case was manipulated by ED and after two years, when they could not find anything, the EOW started probing it. Their sole intention is just harassing and defaming our leaders…”
