Chhattisgarh Liquor Rip-off: ED Secures 5-day Remand Of Chaitanya Baghel

Raipur, July 18, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday secured a five-day custodial remand of Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, following his arrest in reference to an alleged cash laundering case tied to the state’s Rs 2,100 crore liquor rip-off. 

Chaitanya was produced earlier than a particular court docket in Raipur, the place ED officers cited contemporary proof obtained throughout latest raids on the Baghel residence in Bhilai, Durg district.

The court docket granted the company permission to interrogate him at its Raipur workplace over the following 5 days.

The arrest, which coincided with Chaitanya’s birthday and the ultimate day of the monsoon session of the Chhattisgarh Meeting, triggered a wave of political backlash.

Earlier within the day, the Enforcement Directorate performed a contemporary raid on the Bhilai residence of the Baghels, intensifying its investigation into an alleged multi-crore liquor rip-off.

A crew of roughly 12 ED officers, accompanied by a heavy contingent of Central Reserve Police Power (CRPF) personnel, arrived at Baghel’s residence in Durg district at round 6 a.m. This marked the second such raid in six months in opposition to the senior Congress chief and his household.

Quickly after the raid and subsequent arrest, senior Congress leaders gathered at Bhupesh Baghel’s bungalow for an emergency assembly, whereas celebration employees staged protests exterior the ED workplace in Raipur, accusing the Centre of weaponising investigative businesses for political retribution.

Chief of Opposition Charan Das Mahant led a walkout from the Meeting, declaring that the Congress wouldn’t be cowed by what it described as “tactical intimidation”.

In line with the ED, the alleged rip-off operated between 2019 and 2022 underneath the Baghel-led authorities, involving a parallel excise community run by bureaucrats and personal contractors.

Liquor was reportedly bought off the books, leading to huge income losses to the state exchequer.

Whereas hypothesis continues over Chaitanya’s potential hyperlinks to the Mahadev betting app, the ED has but to formally verify any connection.

His arrest provides to a rising checklist of high-profile detentions within the case, which has already ensnared former ministers, senior bureaucrats, and businessmen.