ED, Raipur Zonal Office, has arrested Ramgopal Agrawal under PMLA, 2002, in the case relating to the Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam. Ramgopal Agrawal, who was lodged as an undertrial in the Central Jail, Raipur, was arrested on 11.08.2026 and was produced before the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, which has remanded him to the custody of the ED for a period of 7 days, up to 18.08.2026. He was the then Treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee.
Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Raipur Zonal Office, has arrested Ramgopal Agrawal, in the case relating to the Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. Ramgopal Agrawal, who was lodged as an undertrial in the Central Jail, Raipur, was arrested on 11.08.2026 under Section 19 of the PMLA and was produced before the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, which has remanded him to the custody of the Directorate of Enforcement for a period of 7 days, up to 18.08.2026. He was the then Treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB), Raipur, and the charge sheet and supplementary charge sheets filed thereafter before the Hon’ble Special Court (PC Act), Raipur, alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption in the excise administration of the State of Chhattisgarh during the period 2019 to 2023.
ED investigation revealed that a syndicate comprising Anil Tuteja (Retd. IAS), Anwar Dhebar and Arun Pati Tripathi (ITS) orchestrated a large-scale scam in the liquor trade of the State and generated Proceeds of Crime of approximately Rs. 3000 Crore through illegal commission on accounted liquor sales, sale of unaccounted country liquor, annual commission collected from distillers, and commission collected from foreign liquor companies and against the grant of FL-10A licences.
Investigation further revealed that a substantial part of the said Proceeds of Crime, generated in cash, was delivered to Ramgopal Agrawal in his capacity as the then Treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee.
Statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA, 2002 of the persons who handled and moved the cash have revealed that the cash was delivered, at the instance of Ramgopal Agrawal and through handlers of the syndicate, at Rajiv Bhawan, Raipur, the then office of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee. He failed to appear in response to four summons issued to him under Section 50 of the PMLA, 2002, and in his statement subsequently recorded, he gave evasive replies.
Further investigation is under progress.
Radhika Goyal is Author of Taxconcept Gurugram head office, for deeply reported tax, gst and income tax articles on issues that matter. He splits her time between New Delhi and Bengaluru, and has worked as a reporter, a podcaster and an editor for publications across India.