Raipur: The recent arrest of Chaitanya Baghel by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the ₹2,100-crore liquor scam has triggered a verbal duel between his father and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and CM Vishnu Deo Sai.
While Bupesh Baghel called his son’s arrest politically motivated to intimidate him, Sai hit back, saying: “This (Chaitanya’s arrest) is just the beginning. More arrests will follow (in the liquor scam). Some are still hiding in their dens.”
The former CM on Sunday visited his son who is in ED’s custody. “I was allowed to meet my son for 30 minutes. There is no case against him…. This is an effort to suppress any voice raised against Adani (Group). If anyone raises their voice against Adani Group, then they will also be treated like Bhupesh Baghel’s son,” he told reporters after meeting his son.
Bhupesh Baghel termed his son’s arrest as ‘illegal’ and a calculated act of intimidation to ‘break me’. “The ED had conducted searches in our residence in March. Another raid was conducted 15 days later by the CBI. But no summon was served to my son nor had he been questioned till his arrest”, he added.
The former CM claimed that the case made out against his son was based on the statement of one Pappu Bansal, against whom a non-bailable warrant has been issued. “But he walks free and goes to the ED and the CBI offices and no action has been taken against him. But action was taken against his son,” he said and added: “This is a conspiracy to harass me and my family.”
Chief Minister Sai justified the arrest, saying, “The ED’s actions are based on the investigations and lawful and those who fear action by the ED only try to politicize the matter.”
The ED while seeking custody of Chaitanya Baghel a couple of days ago had told a special court that he laundered `16.7 crore through shell companies and undervalued real estate transactions linked to the liquor scam.
The alleged ill-gotten funds were part of a broader proceeds-of-crime pool generated by the powerful liquor syndicate that allegedly rigged the state’s excise system between 2019 and 2022, the ED said. Bhupesh Baghel was Chief Minister at that time. Chaitanya played a “central and active role” in routing illicit money through dubious transactions, the ED said.
