ED raids premises linked to ex-Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s son

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was on Monday raiding 14 locations in Chhattisgarh including those related to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, as part of its money laundering probe related to irregularities in the liquor industry, people familiar with the matter said. The former chief minister is being investigated in the case.

ED officials said Chaitanya Baghel allegedly received proceeds of crime in the liquor contracts. “...out of the proceeds of crime worth ₹2,161 crore, Chaitanya Baghel was one of the recipients,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.

The alleged irregularities date back to 2019 and 2022 when officials of the state-run liquor retailer, the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd, allegedly took bribes from distillers. The then Congress-led state government accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of using the ED to target its leaders. The Union government defended the ED’s actions.

In its charge sheet filed in July 2023, which has since been quashed, the ED alleged that ₹776 crore of the ₹2,161 crore main accused Anwar Debhar allegedly collected went to political executives.

The Supreme Court in April last year quashed the ED’s previous probe in the case as it was based on an income-tax complaint and did not form part of the scheduled offence, a requirement for the agency to go ahead with money laundering probes.

The ED filed a fresh case in the matter on April 9, 2024, based on Chhattisgarh Police’s first information report dated January 17 of that year.