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Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam Case, Bhupesh Baghel ED Raid: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday conducted searches at 14 locations in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district, including at the residences of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his son, in connection with an alleged liquor scam.
“Search premises are related to ex-CM Bhupesh Baghel, including the residence of his son Chaitanya Baghel, and also close associates of Chaitanya Baghel,” ED sources said, adding that the premises of one Laxmi Narayan Bansal was also searched.
According to sources, the ED has gathered information that Chaitanya Baghel allegedly received proceeds of crime generated from the liquor scam.
As per ED, the alleged corruption began in 2019 and continued till 2022 in the excise department when the Congress party was in power in Chhattisgarh.
As per ED allegations made before a special Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) court Raipur, the syndicate was led by Anwar Dhebar, 51, brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, and a retired IAS officer named Anil Tuteja, 61.
The syndicate altered liquor policy and created a parallel system to sell liquor, the ED claimed.
Further, it alleged that the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) would procure liquor only from those paying a commission to the syndicate and a major portion of this went to the Congress. Further, the syndicate sold kacha (domestic liquor) liquor. This illicit liquor was manufactured and sold through CSMCL-run shops. For this duplicate liquor, distillers got bottles and holograms from the syndicate, the ED claimed.
“Dhebar and Tuteja kept 15% of the illegally earned money and the remaining 75% went to the politicians as per the directions from the highest political executives of the state,” the prosecution complaint filed in a special court back in July 2023 said.
Overall Rs 2,161 crore was illegally generated by this syndicate, it said.
Who are the alleged major players in the scam?
So far, ED has made allegations against former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma, Dhebar, Tuteja and then serving IAS officer Arunpati Tripathi, who was the managing director of CSMCL. They have all been arrested earlier.
In the second FIR registered in January 2024, a month after the BJP came to power in the state, a total of 70 accused were named, including excise officials, politicians and others.
What is the present status of the case?
The ED is investigating the money laundering part in the second FIR registered in 2024 by EOW. Based on this FIR, a second (Enforcement Case Information Report) ECIR in the scam was registered by ED on April 11 last year. The development came three days after the Supreme Court quashed their first ECIR in the same case, stating the offences invoked don’t fall in the schedule of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and hence there cannot be any “proceeds of crime” as defined by the Act.
In April last year, the ED arrested Tuteja in the second ECIR and after investigating the case for a year, arrested Lakhma in January this year. The name of Lakhma’s son has also cropped up in the case after his arrest.
So far, assets collectively worth Rs 205 crore have been attached, confirmed the ED counsel in the liquor scam, Saurabh Kumar Pandey.
What is former CM Bhupesh Baghel’s alleged role?
Though the ED has not mentioned Baghel’s role so far, on Monday, it raided his residence.
How did Baghel react?
Baghel’s official X handle released a statement alleging this was a conspiracy to stop Baghel from doing the Congress’s work in Punjab. Earlier this year, Baghel was chosen by the Congress as its general secretary for Punjab.
The statement on Baghel’s social media handle, in Hindi, said, “When the false case going on for seven years was dismissed in the court, today, ED guests have entered the Bhilai residence of former Chief Minister, Congress General Secretary Bhupesh Baghel… If someone is trying to stop Congress in Punjab with this conspiracy, then they are mistaken.”
