Who is Vinay Kumar Choubey, former secretary to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, arrested in excise scam case?

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested senior IAS officer Vinay Kumar Choubey on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged excise scam in Jharkhand, officials said. Choubey, after hours of questioning, was presented before the court of ACB special judge Yogesh Kumar.

Choubey, a 1999-batch IAS officer, has held several important positions, including Secretary to the Chief Minister. He is currently serving as the Principal Secretary of the Department of Panchayati Raj.

The ACB began investigating alleged irregularities in the excise policy during his time as Secretary of the Excise Department. The Jharkhand state government had earlier allowed the registration of an FIR against him.


On Tuesday morning, the ACB team went to Choubey's residence and took him to their headquarters for interrogation. The joint commissioner of the excise department, Gajendra Singh, was also questioned by the ACB.

Last October, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided properties linked to Choubey and Singh as part of its probe into the excise scam. The ED also searched the homes of several state officials, liquor businessmen, and others.

A total of 15 premises in Ranchi and Raipur (the capital of neighbouring Chhattisgarh) were searched after a criminal case was filed by the Jharkhand zonal office of the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED’s investigation followed an FIR filed on 7 September 2024 by the Chhattisgarh Police ACB in Raipur. The FIR named Choubey, retired Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar (elder brother of Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar), Indian Telecom Service officer Arunpati Tripathi, and several others.

Inputs from PTI