Liquor ‘scam’ probe: ED arrests Baghel’s son Chaitanya, gets his custody for 5 days

According to the ED, the alleged scam involved a syndicate of senior state bureaucrats, politicians, and excise department officials who are accused of running a “parallel” excise department, wherein liquor was sold to the public, but no money came to the state exchequer, causing the government a loss of around Rs 2,161 crore. It is alleged to have taken place between 2019 and 2022, during the previous Congress government in Chhattisgarh that was helmed by Bhupesh Baghel.

Around 7 am on Friday, the ED began searches at the Baghel residence at Bhilai city in Durg district. At around noon, the agency arrested Chaitanya.

Speaking to the media, Chaitanya’s lawyer Faisal Rizvi said, “This matter has been going on since 2022. The first prosecution complaint (filed by the ED) was submitted in court, following which three more supplementary prosecution complaints were submitted… but neither was Chaitanya’s name mentioned nor was his statement recorded in them.”

He said the ED had not summoned Chaitanya for questioning. “There is one Papu Bansal (Laxminarayan Bansal) against whom a non-bailable warrant was issued on May 16 this year by the special court. After this, Papu Bansal gave a statement, and based on his statement, Chaitanya has been arrested on his birthday when he was offering pooja at home…”

The ED’s counsel, Saurabh Kumar Pandey, said, “We were continuously collecting evidence in the liquor scam, and we found some evidence that Chaitanya Baghel has layered a lot of money and proceeds of crime.” He alleged there was evidence that Chaitanya helped the liquor scam “syndicate” launder approximately Rs 1,000 crore proceeds of crime, and that he himself got Rs 13 crore.

Bhupesh Baghel said the ED action on Friday was an attempt to prevent him from raising in the Assembly the issue of trees being felled for a coal mine project by the Adani Group in the Tamnar tehsil of the state’s Raigarh district.

All Congress MLAs, including Baghel, boycotted the Assembly proceedings Friday morning following Chaitanya’s arrest. “The way ED is putting pressure to harass Baghel… it’s important to talk about it. They have arrested Chaitanya. We oppose it and we boycott the proceedings,” Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant said as all Congress MLAs walked out of the Assembly.

Earlier in the day, soon after ED officials stepped inside Baghel’s Bhilai residence, where Chaitanya also lives, his office posted in Hindi on X: “ED has arrived. Today is the last day of the Assembly session. The issue of trees being cut in Tamnar for Adani was supposed to be raised today. At Bhilai Niwas, Saheb has sent ED.”

Speaking to reporters outside his residence later, Baghel said, “To please their master, Modi and Shah have sent the ED to my house. We are neither going to get scared nor bow down. We will fight this. They can put as much pressure as they want, but Bhupesh Baghel will not be scared and will not bow down.”

“On one hand, in Bihar, with the help of the Election Commission, voters are being removed (from the voters list), and democracy is being stripped. On the other hand, they are using ED, I-T, CBI, and DRI to suppress Opposition leaders. However, our country’s people are now well aware. ED has come in the past as well and raided my place and found Rs 33 lakh in my house. Now they have come again. What does this mean? We will fully cooperate, regardless of whether they trust us or not; we believe in democracy and the judiciary. They (BJP) are misusing the agency, but we will cooperate with them,” Baghel said.

He also questioned the timing of the ED raids, which coincided with his son’s birthday.

In a post in Hindi on X, Baghel said, “The kind of birthday gift that Modi and Shah ji give, no one else in any democracy in the world can give. 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.”