Raipur: In a major development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 10 raided multiple premises belonging to former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his son Chaitanya Baghel and associates. The sleuths of the agency during the raids have reportedly seized Rs 33 lakh in cash. The raids began in the early hours of the day and lasted for around 10 hours.
According to the preliminary information, a team of the officials reached the former Chief Minister’s Bhilai based residence in Padumnagar and conducted search operation for hours. Cash counting machines were also brought up during the raid at the said premise.
The raids were carried out over a dozen locations including at premises of close associates of Bhagels’s son Chaitanya who has been summoned by the agency for enquiry in connection with the multi-crore alleged liquor scam on Tuesday. A few of the locations raided as part of the crackdown belongs to businessman and builders.
#WATCH | Chhattisgarh | Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting searches at the residence of former Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel's son in an ongoing money laundering case.
(Visuals from Durg) pic.twitter.com/k5Gmgew4K4
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2025
Meanwhile, the news of the agency’s officials carrying out a search operation at the residence of former Chief Minister sparked a major protest from the Congress party supporters and workers who soon gathered near the residence and staged a protest against the raids.
The vehicle in which the ED’s officials are returning from the venue was also reportedly attacked in the evening. The agency however has yet to release any official statement about the crackdown.
#WATCH | Durg, Chhattisgarh: A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials was allegedly attacked while they were coming out of the residence of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel after a day-long search. Their car was surrounded and briefly stopped from leaving… pic.twitter.com/39de2hWtT9
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2025
The raids by the officials sparked a major political row with many Congress leaders alleging Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for using the central agencies to trouble the opposition leaders. The party has also called a statewide protest against the raids on Tuesday.
Speaking to media personnel, Baghel said, “At around 7.30 in the morning I was reading the newspaper, ED came to my house and I welcomed them. I asked them about the search warrant. He asked about my phone and I refused. We are an agricultural family and we have 140 acres of land. ED found around 33 lakhs from my home.”
Baghel while thanking his supporters for standing behind him, further alleged the BJP of using investigative agencies to trouble opposition leaders. “The citizens of the country now know that the BJP uses CBI, ED to trouble others. If the search operation ended just in hours in the home of a former chief minister, then they did not find anything,” said Baghel.
He added that the “BJP is furious due to a few reasons. One of them is that I made the General Secretary recently.”
#WATCH | Durg: Following the ED raids at his residence, former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel says, "…I was reading the newspaper and having a cup of tea when the ED team arrived. I told them that they were welcome and that I had been waiting for them for months and years…My… pic.twitter.com/P7Ng8s0iYK
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2025
In a post on X, Baghel said “ED has left the house. They found three things in my house; these are a pen drive containing conversation about transaction of crores between Manturam and Dr. Puneet Gupta, son-in-law of former Chief Minister and speaker Raman Singh, papers of SAIL Company of Dr. Raman Singh’s son Abhishek Singh, and the total of farming, dairy, Stridhan and cash in hand in the entire joint family is about 33 lakh rupees, the account of which will be given to them.”
He further claimed that “the main thing is that ED officials have not been able to provide any ECIR number.”
However reacting to the raids, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai on the other hand has denied any role of the state government in it and said that it was being conducted by central agency.
The CM said, “Everyone knows that there were various scams under the Congress government, and central agencies are probing them. Some people are in jail, and some others are getting ready to go to jail. A central agency is conducting the probe; the state has no role to play in this.”
#WATCH | Raipur | Regarding the ongoing ED raids at the residence of former CM and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai says, "Everyone knows that there were various scams under the Congress government, and central agencies are probing them. Some people… pic.twitter.com/eKeLCHPe9N
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2025
ED has alleged that Chaitanya Baghel is also “the recipient of proceeds of crime generated from the liquor scam wherein total proceeds of crime are around Rs 2,161 crore siphoned off through various schemes.”
The ED has alleged that a cartel of government officials, politicians, and liquor businessmen ran a scheme that illegally collected around Rs 2,161 crore from the sale of liquor in the state between 2019 and 2022. The alleged scam involved manipulation of the liquor supply chain, where a cartel controlled the sale and distribution of alcohol through government-run shops.
A portion of liquor sold was allegedly not accounted for in official records, and bribes were allegedly collected from suppliers to allow its sale outside the legal system.
The investigation is based on an earlier Income Tax Department report, which flagged irregularities in the liquor trade.
The ED has arrested several key accused, including IAS officer Anil Tuteja and liquor businessman Anwar Dhebar, brother of Raipur’s mayor. The agency has earlier conducted multiple raids, including on politicians and bureaucrats linked to the previous Congress-led government in Chhattisgarh.
(With inputs from agencies)
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