‘No one will be safe in Chhattisgarh’: Former CM Bhupesh Baghel writes to CJI alleging misuse of central agencies by BJP

An excerpt from the letter stated, “On September 8, Director ACB/EOW IPS Amresh Kumar Mishra reached the jail and met Tiwari. Mishra asked Tiwari to accept my (Baghel’s) involvement in the alleged crime of coal transportation and record a statement by calling me the beneficiary.”

Baghel also said that Tiwari stated in his application that Mishra behaved inappropriately and threatened him that he would be implicated in other cases as well, and all his family members would be imprisoned if the former chief minister’s name was not mentioned.

Baghel alleged that Mishra did not obtain permission for such a meeting, and no jail official was present when Mishra allegedly misbehaved and threatened Tiwari. When contacted, IG Mishra told The Indian Express, “These are baseless allegations. As a responsible agency, we are aware of the limitations of the law, and no law or rules have been breached by me.”

Baghel mentioned how his name was dragged into the Mahadev illegal gambling app case where several thousand crores have been made by its operators. Stating that several cases were made and bank accounts seized during his term as CM, Baghel said, “My own government issued a look-out notice against the operators of Mahadev App and appealed to the Central Government that since these criminals have fled abroad, the Central Government should take action to arrest them and bring them to India. But the Central Government gave it a political color by not taking any action.”

Baghel said the ED, instead, raided residences of people close to him including his political advisors but they were not made accused “The purpose of ED was to give the message in the state before the elections that ED action has been taken in the case of online betting at the houses of people close to Bhupesh Baghel. That purpose has been accomplished.”’

Baghel alleged that one policeman accused in the app case was tortured to give statements by the central agency who later retracted his statement before court. Similarly, the letter talks about another accused Asim Das, who was arrested five days before the Assembly election and said Rs 5.39 crore seized from him were meant to be given for ‘Baghel’ but later retracted the statement. “This incident can also be linked to the incident that happened with Tiwari in Jail on September 8,” said Baghel.

Talking about a third such incident, an excerpt from Baghel’s letter stated, “Two days before the assembly elections, a press conference was held by Bharatiya Janata Party where a video was released in which a person named Shubham Soni claimed that he is the real owner of the Mahadev app and that he has sent me Rs 508 crore. This video gave an issue to the BJP just before the elections. However, no investigation was done in this matter nor did ED have any evidence. How did this video, allegedly recorded in Dubai, reach the people of the BJP? Who made this video available to them? It seems that the BJP is doing the work of the ED.”

Baghel added, “According to a document presented in the court later, Mr. Shubham Soni also went to the Indian Embassy in Dubai and filed an affidavit and recorded the video statement as a statement. This mystery is still not solved. If the alleged real owner of the Mahadev app went to the Indian Embassy, why was he not arrested? Why was he let go after taking his affidavit?”

Requesting for the intervention of the apex court to identify those acting with malicious intent against him, Baghel wrote, “I humbly request you that if this kind of misuse of investigative agencies in political vendetta is not stopped, then no one will be safe in Chhattisgarh. You are humbly requested to intervene to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution in the context of the functioning of central and state agencies in the state of Chhattisgarh. Given the track record of political malice of these agencies, a detailed, impartial and high-level investigation and probe is urgently required. For this, we can now only trust the judiciary.”

“I request that a high-level judicial inquiry be conducted into the role and functioning of the central agencies and state agencies. And this inquiry should either be monitored by a high court or you should issue an order for its monitoring on behalf of the Supreme Court. The investigation will also ensure that those who are acting with malicious intent are identified. Along with this, the safety of life and liberty of me, my family, and my supporters will also be ensured,” he added.

When contacted, ED counsel Dr Saurabh Kumar Pandey told The Indian Express, “The prosecution complaint submitted before the special court is based on all the evidence which were gathered by ED in their due course of investigation.” No response was received from the ED until going to press.

When contacted, BJP spokesperson Kedar Gupta said, “There is no conspiracy. Those innocents must not fear the course of law. Allegations have been levelled based on evidence and those guilty shall be punished.”