The Central Bureau of Investigation booked two Enforcement Directorate officials and five others for allegedly taking Rs 5 crore from businessman Amandeep Dhall in the Delhi liquor policy case, reported PTI.

The first information report, lodged on August 25, booked Enforcement Directorate’s Assistant Director Pawan Khatri and Upper Division Clerk Nitesh Kokar. It also named Chief Executive Officer of Claridges Hotels and Resorts Vikramaditya, Assistant General Manager of Air India Deepak Sangwan and Chartered Accountant Praveen Kumar Vats for facilitating the bribery.

Amandeep Dhall and his father Birender Pal Singh Dhall have also been named in the FIR.

The FIR was filed on a complaint by the Enforcement Director that accused Amandeep Dhall and Birender Dhall of giving Rs 5 crore to Vats in December 2022 and January as bribes so that the businessman is not arrested.

Amandeep Dhall is the owner of Brindco Sales Private Limited that held the wholesale licence for liquor sale in Delhi. The central agency has accused him to be a part of a criminal conspiracy and cartel related to the alleged excise policy scam, reported The Indian Express.

The Aam Aadmi Party government in November 2021 had brought in the new excise policy under which licences of 849 liquor shops were issued to private firms through open bidding.

Earlier, four government corporations ran 475 liquor stores and 389 were private shops. The policy was withdrawn on July 30 last year after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended an inquiry into how it had been formulated and implemented.

The Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation have alleged that the excise policy was modified to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.

On March 1, the Enforcement Directorate had arrested Amandeep Dhall in the case related to the irregularities in the excise policy.

“Deepak [Sangwan] had introduced him [Vats] to Pawan Khatri in December 2022,” Enforcement Directorate’s Special Director Sonia Narang said in her complaint, reported The Indian Express. “Based on Deepak’s assurance, Praveen Vats had taken Rs 3 crore from Amandeep [Dhall] in six tranches of Rs 50 lakh each in December 2022 and January this year. Deepak proposed that Amandeep may be taken out from the accused list in the case after giving Rs 2 crore.”

Vats said that he paid Rs 50 lakh as advance payment to Sangwan and Khatri in December at a parking place behind ITC Hotel in Vasant Vihar for taking out Amandeep Dhall’s name from the list of the accused, according to the Enforcement Directorate officials, reported PTI.

Officials also said that during the searches in July, the central agency recovered Rs 2.19 crore from Vats’ house. A 99-page supplementary prosecution complaint in the liquor scam was also recovered from Sangwan’s house.

The accused have been booked under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, reported The Indian Express.