The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted searches at the Raipur and Bhilai residences of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in connection with the alleged Rs 6,000 crore Mahadev app scam.
The agency teams reached Baghel's residences as well as the houses of a senior police officer and a close associate of the former CM, officials said, PTI reported.
In a post from Baghel's X handle, the former chief minister's office said, "Now CBI has arrived. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is scheduled to go to Delhi today for the meeting of the 'Drafting Committee' constituted for the AICC meeting to be held in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on 8 and 9 April. Before that, the CBI has reached Raipur and Bhilai Niwas."
The CBI has taken over the investigation from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Chhattisgarh Police, which had earlier named Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, promoters of the app, Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni, and Anil Kumar Agrawal, and 14 others in its FIR, PTI reported.
Baghel had termed the EOW FIR "politically motivated."
The Enforcement Directorate, which is also probing the case, has alleged that its probe revealed the involvement of several top politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh.
The app was an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of 'benami' bank accounts, it claimed.
The projected proceeds of crime are about Rs 6,000 crore, the ED earlier said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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