RANCHI: The Jharkhand government on Thursday suspended IAS officer Vinay Chaubey and Joint Excise Commissioner Gajendra Singh following their arrest in the alleged liquor scam. The suspension order, issued by the Department of Personnel, takes effect from May 20—the day both officials were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
After an interrogation for nearly six hours, the State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had arrested Chaubey in connection with the alleged liquor scam in Jharkhand. Singh was also arrested on the same day.
Both Chaubey and Singh were taken into custody and subsequently sent to judicial custody.
According to ACB officials, both officers are accused of misusing their official positions and causing significant financial losses to the state exchequer. Preliminary findings suggest irregularities in the management of excise operations, prompting a wider probe into the state’s liquor distribution and licensing system.
As per government service rules, any official held in custody for over 48 hours is liable to be suspended from service, a provision invoked in this case.
In the liquor scam that took place in Chhattisgarh, it is alleged that a syndicate based in Raipur supplied liquor to Jharkhand using fake holograms in a scam of crores of rupees. Former IAS officers Anil Tuteja, AP Tripathi and businessman Anwar Dhebar, among others, have been made accused in this scam.
The heat of the alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh also reached Jharkhand between 2019 and 2022, with Chaubey being named in it. He was made an accused along with Chhattisgarh officials.
The case was registered by the Economic Offences Wing on the basis of the statement of by Vikas Singh, a resident of Argora police station area in Ranchi. Vikas Singh had accused Chhattisgarh officials Tuteja, Dhebar, Tripathi and others of causing a loss of revenue worth billions of rupees to the Chhattisgarh government by committing a liquor scam.
Following an FIR (36/2024) registered by the Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing, the ACB Ranchi also registered a preliminary investigation.
During the investigation, the ACB questioned former Excise Secretary Choubey and Singh multiple times. Based on information obtained during the initial questioning, the ACB registered a regular FIR related to the liquor scam with government approval.
After completing the investigation of the FIR registered in Chhattisgarh in March 2025, the Economic Offences Wing wrote to the Jharkhand government, requesting sanction for prosecution against Choubey and Singh.
