C’garh: ED searches residences of ex-CM Baghel, his son in ‘liquor scam’
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches at the residences of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his son in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district in connection with the alleged liquor scam.
Raipur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches at the residences of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his son in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district in connection with the alleged liquor scam.
The ED sleuths searched the properties of Mr. Baghel, his son Chaitanya and some others allegedly linked to the scam at 14 locations in the state, sources said.
“The ED is conducting searches under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at 14 locations in Durg district in Chhattisgarh on Monday in relation to the liquor scam of the state. Search premises are related to Ex-CM Bhupesh Baghel including the residence of his son Chaitanya Baghel and also close associates of Chaitanya Baghel”, the ED sources said.
The ED sources further said that premises linked to one Laxminarayan Bansal was also being searched.
According to the ED sources, the probe agency has ‘gathered’ that Junior Baghel was recipient of proceeds of the crime generated from the liquor scam wherein the total proceeds of the crime are around Rs 2,161 crore siphoned off through various schemes.
The alleged scam happened in 2019-2022 when Mr. Bhupesh Baghel was the chief minister of the state.
The ED alleged that a syndicate headed by Anwar Dhebar, brother of senior Congress leader and former Raipur municipal corporation mayor Aijaz Dhebar and a retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja had created a parallel system of illegal liquor trade in the state causing huge loss to the state exchequer.
Former excise minister of the state and tribal Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, Dhebar, Tuteja and former IAS officer Arunpati Tripathy have been arrested in connection with the alleged scandal earlier.
Reacting strongly to the ED raids, former chief minister Mr Baghel linked it to his recent appointment as in-charge of Congress affairs in Punjab and said that such a move would not deter him from discharging his responsibility assigned by his party.
He said that the case which was going on for seven years was dismissed by the court. But the ED has entered his residence to conduct searches in the case.
The issue triggered a storm in the Chhattisgarh Assembly with Congress MLAs raising slogans in the house opposing the searches in the residence of the former chief minister by the ED, calling it ‘murder of democracy’.