ED searches home of Bhupesh Baghel's son: All you need to know about Chhattisgarh ‘liquor scam’ and today's raids

In July 2023, the ED filed a prosecution complaint, naming key individuals

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday raided 14 locations linked to former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel and his son Chaitanya Baghel in an alleged multi-crore liquor case.

According to News18, Chaitanya allegedly received the proceeds of crime generated from the liquor case, with a staggering amount of around Rs 2,161 crore allegedly siphoned through various fraudulent schemes. The cumulative worth of Chhattisgarh’s liquor irregularities now reportedly stands around Rs 4,000 crore.

The ED had in January arrested former minister and Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma in this case. In July 2023, the ED filed a prosecution complaint, naming key individuals such as Anwar Dhebar, brother of Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar; former IAS officer Anil Tuteja; and Arunpati Tripathi, Managing Director of the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL).

What does Baghel say?

Baghel’s official X handle released a statement as the raids began. “When the false case going on for seven years was dismissed in the court, today the guests of ED entered the Bhilai residence of former chief minister, Congress General Secretary Bhupesh Baghel, this morning. If someone is trying to stop Congress in Punjab through such conspiracies, then they have misunderstood the situation," said the statement.

What was the alleged scam?

According to the ED, the alleged corruption began in 2019 and continued till 2022 in the excise department when the Congress party was in power in Chhattisgarh. The alleged scam also covered the sale of country liquor from state-run shops which remained entirely unaccounted. A report by News18 stated that the ED believes that not a single rupee had reached the state exchequer, and all the money was pocketed by the syndicate suspects.

The ED initiated a probe  in 2023. The probe revealed how a nexus between three distillery owners or distributors and a group of government officials caused around Rs 3,800-crore (out of books) loss to the government exchequer, according to News18.

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Bhupesh Baghel (@bhupeshbaghel) March 10, 2025

Only the Chhattisgarh government-owned shops sell liquor in the state. According to the excise department documents, accessed by News 18, the state has 672 such retail shops. These  shops generate sale proceeds in cash amounting to Rs 28-32 crore per day on an average. However, the illegal liquor syndicates started selling unaccounted and unprocessed liquor across the state. The sale was done allegedly with the help of a businessman-politician-bureaucrat nexus.

In January 2024, a month after the BJP came to power in the state, an FIR named  a total of 70 accused, including excise officials, politicians and others.

Baghel has previously denied allegations related to the scam, labelling the ED’s actions as politically motivated.

What is the current state?

Based on the 2024 FIR, a second (Enforcement Case Information Report) ECIR in the scam was registered by ED on April 11 last year. The development came three days after the Supreme Court quashed their first ECIR in the same case.

“So far, assets collectively worth Rs 205 crore have been attached,” the ED counsel in the liquor scam, Saurabh Kumar Pandey, told Indian Express.

What does Congress say?

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera challenged the raids, stating the BJP was attempting to deflect attention from concerns. "Let BJP know it cannot stop the Congress. We are not scared, we will never be scared," Khera stated in a video message on X.

Opposition has consistently accused the BJP of weaponising agencies against them, a charge the party has repeatedly rejected.