नवीनतम
Bhupesh Baghel's son Chaitanya arrested in liquor case
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday arrested Chaitanya Baghel, businessman and son of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, as part of a probe into the Chhattisgarh liquor policy case, ThePrint has learnt.
He was taken into custody by an ED team that reached his Bhilai residence early Friday morning.
Sources within the agency alleged that Chaityana managed the proceeds of crime amounting Rs 1,000 crore, allegedly passed on to the Congress party when Baghel was the chief minister, and recouped a portion of the funds through his real estate firms and those controlled by friends.
The agency’s money laundering case is based on an FIR filed by the Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which booked 70 named individuals and entities, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma, on the grounds of irregularities in the liquor policy during the Baghel-led Congress rule.
Reacting to the search at Bhilai, Bhupesh Baghel stated that the ED raid took place on the final day of the ongoing Chhattisgarh Assembly session, aimed at silencing discussion on the Adani issue.
“Adani issue is set to be raised in the Vidhan Sabha, and Modi-Shah have sent the ED to my residence to make their boss happy. They are targeting the opposition leaders across the country and trying to murder democracy and suppress the opposition through these investigative agencies,” Baghel told reporters in Raipur.
“On one hand, the Election Commission is disenfranchising voters in Bihar and stripping democracy. At the same time, agencies such as the CBI, the ED, the Income Tax and the DRI are being used to silence the opposition leaders. We believe in democracy and the judiciary, and we are cooperating with agencies despite them (the government) misusing it,” he said.
Later, Baghel wrote a stinging message on X in which he mentioned that “highly respected leaders” dispatched the ED first on his birthday and then on his son’s birthday.
“The kind of birthday gift that Modi and Shah ji give, no one else in any democracy in the world can. On my birthday, both highly respected leaders sent ED to the homes of my advisor and two OSDs. And now, on my son Chaitanya’s birthday, an ED team is raiding my house. Thank you for these gifts. They will be remembered for a lifetime (sic),” the senior Congress leader posted in Hindi on X.
