During the raid, the ED (Enforcement Directorate) found Rs 33 lakh in cash from the house of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The former CM himself has given this information by holding a press conference. He said that ED has not questioned any member in the house. They just looked into the matter to understand about the possession of gold and silver and also to be acquainted with information about the property.ED has investigated the property; documents were also found though the agency has not taken any documents. Bhupesh Baghel said that ED did not find anything that he needed to worry about. The former Chief Minister alleged that the raid was conducted only to defame him.On the cash of Rs 33 lakh found, Bhupesh Baghel said that we have more than 150 acres of land here. There is a dairy business. He said that this money is related to all the family members as well as the business.The former CM said that asking questions in the assembly has become a sin. When Kawasi Lakhma asked, he was put in jail within 8 days. When I asked Vijay Sharma about the residence, he sent an ED team to me too, which had not even passed four days.The ED team reached the former CM’s residence in Bhilai in the morning. After this, they raided for more than 11 hours and searched for necessary documents. The ED team left Bhupesh Baghel’s house at six in the evening. During this time, the ED team did not take any members with them. The central agency raided 14 locations in the state at Bhupesh Baghel’s residence.The ED team reached Baghel’s house in four vehicles. During the investigation, senior ED officials arrived with a machine to check gold and count cash. Let us tell you that the Chhattisgarh liquor scam resulted in “huge losses” to the state treasury, and criminal proceeds of more than Rs 2,100 crore were filled in the pockets of the beneficiaries of the liquor syndicate.Searches were also conducted under the PMLA Act at the premises of Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya Baghel in Bhilai (Durg district), Chaitanya Baghel’s alleged close associate Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal, and some others. ED sources said that Chaitanya Baghel lives with his father in Bhilai, so that premises are also being raided. He said that there is suspicion that he (Chaitanya Baghel) is the ‘recipient’ of the proceeds of the liquor scam.Talking on this topic , megha singh a student of law in National Law University, Delhi saud “Chhattisgarh liquor ‘scam’ caused a ‘huge loss’ to the state revenue, and more than Rs 2,100 crore of the proceeds of this crime went into the pockets of the beneficiaries of the liquor syndicate.” In this case, the ED had arrested former minister and Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Ejaz Dhebar’s elder brother Anwar Dhebar, former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecommunication Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi, and some others in January. According to the ED, the alleged liquor scam took place between 2019 and 2022, when the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government was in power in Chhattisgarh. Under this investigation, the ED has so far seized assets worth about Rs 205 crore from various accused. The apex court had in 2024 dismissed the ED’s first ECIR (FIR) in this case, which was based on a complaint by the Income Tax Department.
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