Liquor scam has taken another twist with Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arresting retired IAS officer and former excise commissioner Amit Prakash.

Prakash was arrested in connection with ACB’s investigation into the Jharkhand liquor scam. This was on Tuesday.

The arrest of Prakash is sixth arrest in the liquor scam case.

Prakash, who was produced before an ACB court the same day was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody. He served as the managing director of the Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited (JSBCL) and retired from service on December 31, 2024.

Prakash is the second IAS officer to be arrested in the case after former principal secretary and ex-JSBCL Managing Director Vinay Kumar Choubey.

This comes after the ACB had arrested Vinay Kumar Choubey and Joint Commissioner of Excise Gajendra Singh on May 20 after the agency registered an FIR alleging irregularities in awarding contracts to placement agencies using fake bank guarantees from placement agencies to recover dues for JSBCL but took no action.He was allegedly evasive during questioning.

On May 21 – a day after Choubey’s arrest — three others, JSBCL’s former General Manager (Finance) Sudhir Kumar Das, former GM (Finance and Operations) Sudhir Kumar, and Neeraj Kumar Singh, a local representative of the placement agency Marshan, were arrested in the case.

According to the ACB, in November 2024, Prakash authorised payments of over Rs 11 crore to two liquor supply companies from Chhattisgarh Dishita Ventures and Om Sai Beverages without informing the excise minister. 

The payments, for dues pending since 2022, were allegedly made despite four Chhattisgarh-based placement agencies – which ACB claims are part of the same syndicate — being blacklisted and owing nearly Rs 450 crore to the Jharkhand government.