Staff Reporter

ITANAGAR, 29 Jul: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against 19 persons, including Sanjay Dewan, Niraj Sharma, Rajan Lohia, Shankar Deb and Sameer Mehta and 14 associated bonded warehouse entities in connection with an alleged large-scale liquor smuggling and money laundering racket spanning Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

The prosecution complaint was filed by the agency’s Guwahati zonal office, following an investigation based on 173 FIRs registered by the Assam Police across districts along the Assam-Arunachal border.

The ED alleged that the accused operated a well-organised network involved in the clandestine manufacture and smuggling of liquor from Arunachal into Assam.

The liquor bottles allegedly carried labels stating ‘For sale in Arunachal Pradesh’ but were transported into Assam without valid transit permits or excise verification certificates (EVCs), enabling evasion of higher excise duty and VAT.

The ED stated that Assam authorities seized more than 2.63 lakh bulk litres of liquor worth about Rs 52.77 crore in 739 separate incidents between January 2023 and April 2026, adding that the seizures represented only a fraction of the liquor allegedly smuggled.

The investigation further claimed that the three principal accused – Sanjay Dewan, Niraj Sharma and Rajan Lohia – exercised complete operational and financial control over a network of manufacturing units, bonded warehouses and wholesale liquor businesses in Arunachal.

According to the agency, excise licences issued to local indigenous residents were allegedly taken over without the mandatory approval of district and excise authorities. The licence holders were purportedly reduced to proxy operators receiving fixed monthly payments, while the accused retained effective ownership and control.

It also alleged that dummy directors were appointed in manufacturing units, with salaried employees acting on instructions of the principal accused while having no real decision-making powers.

The ED claimed that the proceeds generated from the illicit liquor trade were laundered through a four-stage process involving placement of cash into wholesale entities, routing funds through bonded warehouses via RTGS and NEFT transfers, consolidation at manufacturing units, and eventual integration into personal, Hindu undivided family (HUF) and property assets.

The prosecution complaint has been filed before the designated PMLA court. The allegations made by the ED are part of the prosecution complaint and the matter will be adjudicated in accordance with the law.