The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has discovered serious financial anomalies of Chaitanya Baghel, the son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, regarding the multi-crore liquor scam that happened between 2019 and 2022 in the state.
Chaitanya Baghel, who was arrested on July 18, had received Proceeds Of Crime (PoC) amounting to ₹16.70 crore, as per the ED.
"Chaitanya purportedly channelled the illegal proceeds through his property companies and utilised them in the construction of a property venture. The proceeds were laundered by way of cash payments to builders and through fictitious banking entries," ED said in its statement.
ED inquiry went on to find that Chaitanya, in connection with businessman Trilok Singh Dhillon, hatched a plot to indirectly take ₹5 crore in the guise of flat buys in the "Vitthalpuram Project," and made payments in the names of Dhillon's staff members.
"Bank trails indicate that Dhillon had received large payments from the liquor syndicate at that point," the agency said.
In a bigger revelation, the ED said that Chaitanya Baghel was engaged in dealing with more than ₹1,000 crore of proceeds of the liquor scam. "He is said to have coordinated with main accused Anwar Dhebar and other concerned persons for routing of illicit funds to the then treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee."
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The ED further stated that substantial amounts of this money were again invested through near-relatives of the Baghel family. "The end-use of these funds remains under investigation."
The ED had earlier made some key persons in the same case sit in the lockup, including former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Arvind Singh, Trilok Singh Dhillon, Anwar Dhebar, Arun Pati Tripathi (ITS), and MLA and former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma.
The investigation into the sensational liquor scam continues to expand, uncovering a complex web of political and corporate nexus, the agency added.
Chaitanya is in ED custody until July 22.
ED started investigation on the basis of FIR filed by Economic Offences Wing of Chhattisgarh under sections of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, regarding Liquor scam in the state of Chhattisgarh. A police probe has shown that the Chhattisgarh Liquor scandal caused a whopping loss to the state exchequer and lined the pockets of the beneficiaries with over ₹2,500 crore in Proceeds Of Crime (POC) resulting from the commission of scheduled offences.
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