Raipur, Jul 18 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested Chaitanya Baghel, son of senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, in an alleged liquor scam-linked money laundering case, official sources said.
According to Bhupesh Baghel, the action came on Chaitanya's birthday. The junior Baghel was later sent to five-day ED remand by a court.
Chaitanya was taken into custody by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following fresh early morning raids conducted at his residence in Bhilai town of Durg district. The father-son duo reside at the same house.
Bhupesh Baghel alleged that central agencies were being misused to target opposition leaders, but he trusted the judiciary and would cooperate with them.
Congress MLAs boycotted the proceedings of the state Assembly for the day as a mark of protest against the arrest and accused the agency of trying to harass the opposition.
A heavy posse of police personnel was seen outside the house of the Baghels, even as some party supporters gathered and protested the ED action.
ED sources said Chaitanya was arrested under Section 19 of the anti-money laundering law as he was allegedly not cooperating during the searches that came about following receipt of fresh evidence in the case.
The alleged liquor scam in the central Indian state, according to the ED, was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when Chhattisgarh was governed by the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government. Assets worth about Rs 205 crore of various accused have been attached by the ED as part of this investigation so far, according to the agency.
Chaitanya was produced in the court of Special Judge (Prevention of Money Laundering Act-PMLA) with the ED seeking his custody for five days, the Central agency's counsel Saurabh Kumar Pande told reporters.
The court granted his custodial remand to the ED till July 22, he added.
According to evidence that surfaced during the investigation in the case by the ED, Chaitanya had allegedly layered (laundered) a huge amount of proceeds of crime, and prima facie he was also a beneficiary of Rs 13 crore, Pande claimed.
The ED also has businessman Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal's statement, which disclosed the transaction between him and Chaitanya, he further claimed.
Chaitanya's lawyer Faisal Rizvi said after the ED began investigating the alleged liquor scam in 2022, the agency has so far filed a main prosecution complaint and three supplementary prosecution complaints. Chaitanya's name does not figure in any of them, he claimed.
Even his(Chaitanya) statement was never recorded by the ED, Rizvi claimed. On March 10 this year, a first-time raid was conducted against Chaitanya in the case, and so far, he has not been summoned for recording his statement by the central agency, he said.
Pappu Bansal had recorded his statement (before the ED) after a Non Bailable Warrant was issued against him by the special court on May 16 this year.
Based on his statement, Chaitanya has been arrested, Rizvi said. "Chaitanya was never questioned by the ED whether the allegations levelled against him by Bansal are correct or not."
ED sources claimed that companies allegedly linked to Chaitanya were the "recipient" of about Rs 17 crore "proceeds of crime" that were generated from the alleged liquor scam. Funds worth about Rs 1,070 crore are under the scanner of the agency vis-a-vis the role of junior Baghel, they claimed.
The ED has claimed that the "scam" resulted in a "massive loss" to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate with over Rs 2,100 crore.
After his son was remanded to the ED custody, Bhupesh Baghel claimed that the action against his son clearly shows that if anyone opposes the Adani group in Chhattisgarh, they will meet the same fate as Chaitanya.
"From March 10 till today, not even a single notice was served to Chaitanya. Not even a single inquiry was conducted and today they directly brought a search warrant to the house and arrested him. Is there no rule of law?," he told reporters.
The action was taken after the Congress raised the issue of tree felling in Tamnar area (of Raigarh district for a coal mine project), he said.
Today itself, the leader of opposition Charan Das Mahant moved an adjournment motion in the assembly seeking a discussion into it and to suppress this, such action has been taken, Baghel said.
The federal probe agency had earlier conducted raids against Chaitanya on March 10.
The ED in January arrested former minister and Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma besides Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi and some others as part of their investigations in the case.
The EOW/ACB registered the FIR on January 17 last year, about a month after the BJP defeated the incumbent Congress government in the 2023 assembly polls, and named 70 individuals and companies, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma, former chief secretary Vivek Dhand and others.
According to the ED, the alleged commission generated through the illegal sale of liquor was shared "as per the directions from the highest political executives of the state".