Liquor Scam: ED arrests liquor businessman amid raid against Rameshwar Oraon’s son
Jharkhand : The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday detained an alleged intermediary in connection with a liquor fraud in Jharkhand where it raided the residences of Rohit Oraon, the son of Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon, and some others, the official sources said.
Yogendra Tiwari has been detained under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was taken into custody after being questioned, and he will likely appear before a special court in this city on Friday or Saturday.
In this case, the central probing agency launched raids in the matter in August which spanned approximately 34–40 locations in the state capital of Ranchi, Dumka, Deoghar, and Godda districts.
Since the father and son shared a home, the ED also covered the older Oraon’s property. A few liquor industry businessmen’s homes and places of business were also covered in the raid.
Rameshwar Oraon, 76, is the representative for the state’s Lohardaga (ST) district, which he won on the Congress Party’s ticket.
In the Jharkhand government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, he is in charge of finance, planning, and commercial taxes.
Rameshwar Oraon, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the 1972 batch, previously held the position of Union cabinet minister under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Previous inquiry by ED
Yogendra Tiwari’s name had been mentioned during the raid on power broker Prem Prakash’s homes and businesses the previous year. ED launched an investigation based on information found in documents pertaining to the liquor fraud that were previously retrieved from Prem Prakash’s hideout, who was close to politicians and bureaucrats. Yogendra Tiwari’s name came up during this investigation, and during the course of it, some documents were also discovered at his whereabouts. Yogendra Tiwari has allegedly amassed a considerable quantity of both movable and immovable property as a result of criminal actions related to the liquor scam, the sources said.
The ED questioned Yogendra Tiwari, a Deoghar alcohol trader, in September of this year. In order to analyse the business records and other digital evidence he provided, the ED had also called a few bank representatives.
