ACB interrogated the then Excise Commissioner Faiz Ahmed for hours, many senior officers surrounded:

News India Live, Digital Desk: As the investigation into Jharkhand’s famous liquor scam is progressing, its heat is reaching many senior officials. In this connection, on Monday, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted a long interrogation of an important character of the case, the then Excise Commissioner and currently DC (Deputy Commissioner) of Ramgarh Faiz Ak Ahmed Mumtaz. ACB asked him many tough questions related to the rigging in the new liquor policy and the revenue loss worth crores to the government.

Needle stuck on fake bank guarantees and role of agencies

According to sources, the main focus of ACB’s inquiry was the case of fake bank guarantees deposited by two placement agencies. These agencies were given the responsibility of operating liquor shops in the state. The officials asked Faiz Ahmed that when these agencies were collecting fake bank guarantees and not depositing the money in the government treasury, why did he, as Excise Commissioner, not take action against them in time?

The ACB also tried to find out whether he had given information about these serious lapses in writing or orally to his superiors, like the then Excise Secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey. Let us tell you that in this scam, two agencies – M/s Vision Hospitality Services and M/s Marshan Innovative Security Services are accused of defrauding the government of crores of rupees with the help of fake bank guarantees. The investigation had revealed that these agencies The bank guarantee that was given was never issued by the banks. Who has been caught in the scam so far?

Faiz Ak Ahmed is not the first senior official to face questioning in this case. Before him, the ACB has arrested IAS Vinay Kumar Choubey, who was the then Excise Secretary and Secretary to the Chief Minister. Apart from this, Jamshedpur DC Karan Satyarthi and IAS officers Mukesh Kumar and Manoj Kumar have also been interrogated.

This entire matter is also related to the Chhattisgarh liquor scam, where a syndicate is accused of influencing the new product policy and making illegal money in collaboration with the officials in Jharkhand. It is alleged that due to the connivance of the officials, the government exchequer suffered a loss of about Rs 38.44 crore. Although ACB has not given any official information on the interrogation of Faiz Ahmed, it is believed that if necessary, he can be called again. There is every possibility of many more big names coming forward in this high-profile case.