The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Aijaz Dhebar, the Mayor of Raipur, in a money laundering case related to an alleged liquor scam. Aijaz Dhebar is a Mayor of the Congress party in Chhattisgarh, a state currently ruled by the Congress party. Anwar Dhebar, who runs a liquor business, was arrested from a hotel in Raipur on Saturday morning and has been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had launched an investigation into tax evasion and irregularities by some private players in the liquor trade in Chhattisgarh. The case came to light after the Income Tax department conducted an investigation into the matter. The ED subsequently launched its own investigation into the matter, which led to the arrest of Anwar Dhebar.
After arresting Anwar Dhebar, the ED produced him before a special court seeking his custody. The court will now decide on the custody period based on the arguments presented by the ED and Anwar Dhebar’s legal team.
This is not the first time that the Congress party in Chhattisgarh has faced corruption allegations. In 2018, a former Chief Minister of the state, Ajit Jogi, was arrested in connection with a case related to the alleged rigging of a recruitment exam. The Congress party had come to power in Chhattisgarh in 2018 after defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state assembly elections.
The arrest of Anwar Dhebar is likely to have political implications in the state, especially for the Congress party. It remains to be seen how the party responds to the allegations of corruption against one of its own.
