Accused denied bail in massive excise scam:ED opposed release; calls Ansh Trivedi mastermind behind 194 fake bank challans defrauding govt funds

In the high-profile Rs 71 crore excise fake invoice scam, the District Court on Friday rejected the bail petition of main accused and liquor contractor Ansh Trivedi. During the hearing before the Special Judge (PML Act), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) strongly opposed the bail. ED claims Trivedi as mastermind behind scam Trivedi’s lawyer argued that his client is innocent and did not cause any revenue loss to the government. He added that Trivedi is currently undergoing treatment in Udaipur for back pain and dengue, requesting bail on medical grounds. However, ED Special Public Prosecutor Chandan Airen told the court that Trivedi was the mastermind behind the entire scam, causing crores of rupees in losses to the government. The prosecution also stated that granting bail could allow the accused to influence evidence. After hearing both sides, the court dismissed the bail petition. Scam amount increased to Rs 71 crore Initially, the scam was believed to involve Rs 49 crore, but ED investigations revealed it had escalated to Rs 71 crore, exposing fraud in 194 bank invoices. Two liquor contractors, Ansh Trivedi and Raju Dashvant, had been arrested. Both were sent to ED custody until October 8. ED is reportedly preparing to interrogate government officials who may have played direct or indirect roles in the scam. Scam dates back eight years According to reports, the fraud began about eight years ago. At that time, the Excise Department at Ravji Bazar Police Station filed FIRs against 14 people for cheating. Some officials were suspended but later reinstated, as departmental inquiries progressed slowly. ED raids and summons to officials ED recently conducted raids at 18 locations in Indore, including prominent liquor distribution groups. Names of several individuals, including Avinash and Vijay Srivastav (MG Road group), Rakesh Jaiswal (GPO Chauraha group), Yogendra Jaiswal (Topkhana group), Rahul Chouksey (Bypass Devguradia group), and others, have emerged. Officials such as former Assistant Commissioner Sanjeev Dubey, DS Sisodia, Sukhnandan Pathak, Kaushalya Sabwani, Dhanraj Singh Parmar, and Anmol Gupta have been summoned for questioning. How the fraud was executed ED’s investigation revealed that the accused initially submitted low-value treasury invoices but left the “amount in words” section blank. Later, they increased the amount in both numbers and words to create fake invoices. These were submitted as proof of fee payment to excise offices, enabling them to obtain NOCs and liquor license approvals, causing crores in losses to the state government. According to ED, Ansh Trivedi and Raju Dashvant were the chief conspirators who orchestrated the entire fraud. ​