Bhopal: Retired Excise Deputy Commissioner Held In Liquor Contract Fraud Case

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Shahpura police on Friday arrested retired Excise Department Deputy Commissioner Vinod Raghuvanshi in connection with the 2003 liquor contract fraud case. The arrest was made on the basis of a court warrant. He was produced before the court and sent to jail, police officials said.

In July 2025, the Bhopal district court sentenced Raghuvanshi to four years in prison after finding him guilty of tampering with official records and manipulating a partnership deed to benefit a liquor firm.

Earlier in 2023, a magistrate's court had awarded him three years’ imprisonment, which was later increased to four years.

According to the case, the complainant, Ajay Arora, had become an 18% partner in a firm in March 2002. The firm secured an excise contract.

However, in March 2003, Raghuvanshi, then serving as the district excise officer along with clerk O.P. Sharma, allegedly prepared a fake partnership deed to force Arora out of the firm’s records. 

While Raghuvanshi has been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000, co-accused Sharma has been awarded two years in jail along with the same fine.