ED raids former CM Bhupesh Baghel, his son and others in Chhattisgarh liquor case

Raipur: In a major operation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched 14 locations in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh on Monday and seized about Rs 30 lakh apart from some documents. The searches were aimed at properties of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his son Chaitanya Baghel, and various close associates in connection with an alleged multi-crore liquor scam. As per ED sources, Chaitanya Baghel is under suspicion of having received monetary gains from illegal transactions related to the scam.

When ED personnel were leaving after conducting the raid at the residence of Bhupesh Baghel, protesters pelted stones on their vehicles.

The investigation has found that around Rs 2,161 crore was allegedly diverted through fake schemes between 2019 and 2023, during the last Congress-led state government. The searches also included the offices of Laxmi Narayan Bansal, a businessman who is suspected to have links with the case.

Responding to the ED action, Bhupesh Baghel released a statement via his official social media account, terming the raids as a politically motivated action to hinder his party-related activities in Punjab.

The former chief minister, now Congress General Secretary for Punjab, indicated that the timing of the raids reflected an effort to disrupt his party’s election preparations in the state. The liquor scam case initially broke in January last year when the ED filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR). The main accused are Anwar Dhebar, brother of Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar; retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja; ITS officer Arun Pati Tripathi, who was working as the Special Secretary in the Commerce and Industry Department and Managing Director of the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd.; and some others.

These persons are suspected of hatching a conspiracy to facilitate the supply of unaccounted liquor to the government-run establishments, resulting in a huge revenue loss to the state exchequer.

The senior Baghel later told reporters that the ED officials “took with them about Rs 33 lakh in cash but no gold or jewellery was seized”.

The former chief minister said he asked the ED officials about the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report, the ED’s equivalent of a police FIR) number of the case but they said “there was no ECIR number.”

“Then what is the investigation about? This makes it clear that asking questions in the legislative assembly is criminal now. Kawasi Lakhma (Congress MLA) asked questions and he was arrested (by the ED earlier)...,” Bhupesh Baghel said.

The ED had earlier also arrested former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma in January as part of the probe. Lakhia is said to have received Rs 72 crore from the illegal racket, some of which, it is stated, was invested in building a Congress office and a house for his son, the agency’s legal advisor explained.