Raipur: A scuffle broke out outside the Bhilai residence of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday as Congress workers protested against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid in connection with the alleged liquor scam.
As ED teams conducted searches, Congress workers clashed with police personnel deployed outside Baghel’s residence and raised slogans against the probe agency. The raids were part of a probe into an alleged money laundering case linked to Baghel’s son, Chaitanya Baghel and others.
Reacting to the ED action, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said, “Various scams took place under the previous government, and central agencies are investigating them. Many individuals are already in jail. The ED is a central agency, and our government has no role in its actions.”
The issue sparked a heated debate in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, where Congress legislators created an uproar, calling the ED raid a case of political vendetta. Following the disruption, the Speaker expelled opposition Congress MLAs, who later staged a protest under Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Assembly premises, raising slogans against the central agency’s actions.
Earlier in the day, the ED conducted raids at 14 locations linked to Chaitanya Baghel and others in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district under the PMLA. The agency is probing an alleged Rs 2,161 crore liquor scam that allegedly took place between 2019 and 2022, during the tenure of the Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel.
ED teams searched Chaitanya Baghel’s residence and premises associated with his close aides, including businessman Laxmi Narayan Bansal, also known as Pappu Bansal. Investigators claim to have found evidence indicating that Chaitanya Baghel was among the beneficiaries of illicitly generated funds.
In January, the ED arrested former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, accusing him of playing a key role in the scam and receiving Rs 2 crore in illegal payments every month. The agency alleges that proceeds from the scam were funnelled into real estate investments, causing significant losses to the state exchequer. So far, assets worth Rs 205 crore belonging to various accused have been attached.
The ED’s latest action has intensified the political battle in Chhattisgarh. While opposition parties have renewed corruption allegations against the Congress, Baghel’s office dismissed the raids as politically motivated. In a post on X, his office stated, “When the false case running for seven years was dismissed in court, the ED arrived at the Bhilai residence of former CM and Congress General Secretary Bhupesh Baghel this morning. If someone thinks they can stop Congress in Punjab through this conspiracy, they are mistaken.”
(IANS)
