New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's son Chaitanya Baghel for his alleged involvement in a liquor scandal.
He was later produced in a court in Raipur, which sent him to five-day ED custody. The arrest followed a search at Baghel's house in Bhilai on Friday morning.
The former CM and Congress leader confirmed the arrest in a post on X, "thanking" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for the "birthday gift" to his son.
"The kind of birthday gifts Modi and Shah give cannot be given by anyone in any democracy of the world. On my birthday, both the most respected leaders sent the ED to the houses of my advisor and two OSDs," he said in his post.
"And now, on my son Chaitanya's birthday, the Enforcement Directorate team is raiding my house. Thank you for these gifts. I will remember them for life." The former CM claimed this was done to prevent him from raising the issue of trees being felled for a coal mine project of Adani Group in Tamnar tehsil of the state's Raigarh district.
"Congress is fighting against Adani," he told the media. "This strategy has been adopted to muzzle the opposition. They are now targeting my son, so that no one can raise their voice against Adani. We will not get scared or bow down. Today, my son has been arrested on his birthday. Last year, on my birthday, my advisor was targeted."
ET had reported in March that the Chhattisgarh government informed the Supreme Court that police investigation has put the extent of loss to the exchequer due to the alleged liquor scam at nearly ₹5,000 crore. ET had in April 2024 reported that ED had claimed that former IAS officer Anil Tuteja was the "chief architect" of the alleged scandal. The agency had registered a fresh FIR on April 9, 2024, based on an existing FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing.
The fresh FIR was filed after the SC quashed ED's earlier FIR that was based on an income tax department complaint. ED had claimed that its probe revealed that Tuteja was in receipt of the proceeds of crime amounting to ₹14.41 crore and was the "mastermind" of the alleged liquor scandal.
Private liquor shops are not allowed to operate in Chhattisgarh. All liquor shops are run by state government-owned M/s CSMCL (Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd), which is the only entity with the responsibility to requisition and purchase liquor from distillers and IMFL suppliers. The liquor is then sold through approximately 800 state-run shops. These shops are run by out-sourced manpower suppliers and the cash generated through sale of liquor is collected through outsourced cash collection agencies.
People quoted earlier had claimed "complicit officers" were posted at important positions and they had "political backing to avoid any backlash".
He was later produced in a court in Raipur, which sent him to five-day ED custody. The arrest followed a search at Baghel's house in Bhilai on Friday morning.
The former CM and Congress leader confirmed the arrest in a post on X, "thanking" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for the "birthday gift" to his son.
"The kind of birthday gifts Modi and Shah give cannot be given by anyone in any democracy of the world. On my birthday, both the most respected leaders sent the ED to the houses of my advisor and two OSDs," he said in his post.
"And now, on my son Chaitanya's birthday, the Enforcement Directorate team is raiding my house. Thank you for these gifts. I will remember them for life." The former CM claimed this was done to prevent him from raising the issue of trees being felled for a coal mine project of Adani Group in Tamnar tehsil of the state's Raigarh district.
"Congress is fighting against Adani," he told the media. "This strategy has been adopted to muzzle the opposition. They are now targeting my son, so that no one can raise their voice against Adani. We will not get scared or bow down. Today, my son has been arrested on his birthday. Last year, on my birthday, my advisor was targeted."
ET had reported in March that the Chhattisgarh government informed the Supreme Court that police investigation has put the extent of loss to the exchequer due to the alleged liquor scam at nearly ₹5,000 crore. ET had in April 2024 reported that ED had claimed that former IAS officer Anil Tuteja was the "chief architect" of the alleged scandal. The agency had registered a fresh FIR on April 9, 2024, based on an existing FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing.
The fresh FIR was filed after the SC quashed ED's earlier FIR that was based on an income tax department complaint. ED had claimed that its probe revealed that Tuteja was in receipt of the proceeds of crime amounting to ₹14.41 crore and was the "mastermind" of the alleged liquor scandal.
Private liquor shops are not allowed to operate in Chhattisgarh. All liquor shops are run by state government-owned M/s CSMCL (Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd), which is the only entity with the responsibility to requisition and purchase liquor from distillers and IMFL suppliers. The liquor is then sold through approximately 800 state-run shops. These shops are run by out-sourced manpower suppliers and the cash generated through sale of liquor is collected through outsourced cash collection agencies.
People quoted earlier had claimed "complicit officers" were posted at important positions and they had "political backing to avoid any backlash".
