Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel's son Chaitanya once again arrested in liquor scam

Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, was on Wednesday arrested by Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB) in connection with the alleged liquor scam.

Chaitanya is already in judicial custody and lodged in a jail since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier on July 18.

On Wednesday, upon being arrested by ACB/EOW, he was produced in a court after obtaining his production warrant, according to PTI.

He and another accused, Dipen Chawda, were arrested in connection with the "liquor scam" and produced in a special court (Prevention of Corruption Act) in Raipur, which remanded them in the ACB/EOW custody till October 6, according to a release issued by the agency.

What is the case?

The ACB/EOW has been probing the corruption and criminal angles in the case registered last January. The alleged liquor scam amounting to over Rs 2,500 crore was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government was in power, PTI reported.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the money laundering aspect of the scam, while the EOW/ACB is looking into the criminal aspect and had registered an FIR in 2024 for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

Chaitanya's lawyer, Faisal Rizvi, alleged he was arrested without any evidence as part of a pressure tactic.

In the main chargesheet and multiple supplementary chargesheets filed so far (by the ACB/EOW), Chaitanya has not been named in any of them. Around 45 people were named as accused in those charge sheets, but 29 of them were never arrested, he said, PTI reported.

"After the Chhattisgarh High Court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Chaitanya, he was arrested by the ACB/EOW. The basis of arrest put before the special court by EOW is the statement of one of the accused in the case, Laxmi Narayan Bansal, related to Rs 1,000 crore (proceeds of crime). The key fact is that Chaitanya's name has not been mentioned in any of the charge sheets", the lawyer said.

The same special court has issued a warrant against Bansal, he said.

The Enforcement Directorate, in its fourth supplementary prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed before the special court in Raipur on September 15, claimed Chaitanya was at the helm of the syndicate behind the "liquor scam" in Chhattisgarh and personally handled nearly Rs 1,000 crore generated from it.

The ED also claimed Chaitanya knowingly assisted in the concealment, possession, acquisition, and use of proceeds of crime, acting in conspiracy with other members of the syndicate.

The ACB/EOW registered an FIR on January 17, 2024, in the "liquor scam", nearly a month after the BJP defeated the Congress in the assembly polls. It named 70 individuals and companies, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and ex-chief secretary Vivek Dhand.

The syndicate, apart from collecting commission on the sale of accounted and official liquor and the sale of unaccounted illegal liquor, also charged quid pro quo bribes from main distillers to operate in Chhattisgarh so that they can form a cartel and divide the entire market share among themselves, the ED had claimed.

The investigation has suggested that the entire proceeds of crime were being collected and appropriated by the then officials and in charge of the then ruling party in the state, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, it alleged.

The ED had arrested former excise minister and incumbent Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma, besides Anwar 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 ED arrested Chaitanya on July 18 following a search at his house, which he shares with his father in Bhilai town of Durg district.

(With inputs from PTI)