The Enforcement Directorate has accused Chaitanya Baghel of handling over Rs 1,000 crore in proceeds of crime from the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The case, linked to the Congress regime, has already seen multiple high-profile arrests.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday, September 15, filed a fresh prosecution complaint in connection with the multi-crore liquor scam case in Chhattisgarh. In this new chargesheet, the agency has accused Chaitanya Baghel, son of senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, of managing more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of “proceeds of crime.”
The supplementary prosecution complaint, running into 7,039 pages, was placed before the court of 6th District and Additional Sessions Judge Damarudhar Chouhan in Raipur. Chaitanya, who is a businessman, has been named as an accused in the case.
The liquor scam, estimated to be worth around Rs 2,100 crore, allegedly took place when the Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel was in power in Chhattisgarh between 2018 and 2023.
ED counsel Saurabh Kumar Pande confirmed the development and said, the
“prosecution complaint was filed before the special court, in which Chaitnaya Baghel was named as an accused.”
He further added that this was the fourth prosecution complaint filed in the case.
According to him,
“a hard disc containing digital evidence and other proofs were submitted along with the prosecution complaint.”
The agency has alleged that
“Chaitanya Baghel ‘handled’ more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of ‘proceeds of crime’ generated from a liquor ‘scam’ in the state and used proceeds of crime for development of his business ventures.”
ED counsel Pande also stated that
“the ED has found ‘solid’ evidence about the use of proceeds of crime worth Rs 22 crore allegedly by him.”
Chaitanya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 18 after a raid at his residence in Bhilai town of Durg district, where he stays along with his father Bhupesh Baghel.
The agency had earlier released a statement on the matter, saying,
“Chaitanya was in receipt of proceeds of crime worth Rs 16.70 crore. He had used his real estate firms to intermingle the said funds. It was found that he had utilised the said cash amount (proceeds of crime) in development of his real estate project.”
Former CM Bhupesh Baghel has repeatedly criticised the central investigation, saying that probe agencies are being misused for political purposes.
He remarked that
“central probe agencies were being misused to target Opposition leaders, but stressed he trusted the judiciary and would cooperate with them in the investigation of the case.”
He further alleged that
“the ED action against his son was initiated to divert attention from the ‘illegal tree felling’ for coal mines in Chhattisgarh as the Congress was set to raise the issue in the state Assembly last week.”
Meanwhile, the ED has maintained that the scam caused huge damage to the state’s finances. The agency said the liquor syndicate
“resulted in a ‘massive loss’ to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate with over Rs 2,100 crore.”
As per ED’s findings, the liquor scam was executed between 2019 and 2022 during the Congress regime in Chhattisgarh.
Earlier, the agency arrested several prominent figures in January, including former minister Kawasi Lakhma, businessman Anwar Dhebar, ex-IAS officer Anil Tuteja, ITS officer Arunpati Tripathi, and others.
The state’s Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB) had registered an FIR on January 17, 2024, just a month after the BJP defeated Congress in the 2023 assembly polls.
That FIR had named 70 individuals and companies, including ex-excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and former chief secretary Vivek Dhand.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, the money generated from the alleged illegal liquor business was distributed “as per the directions from the highest political executives of the state.”
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on the Liquor Scam
