Bhupesh Baghel son Chaitanya Arrested: In a jolt for the Congress, the Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya in connection with an alleged liquor scam. This comes a couple of months after the central agency raided 14 locations in connection with its probe into the alleged scam, including the Baghels’ Bhilai residence.
The ED conducted its first raid in the case on March 10 and has already arrested former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma in connection with its investigation. The agency has alleged that the scam in the excise department began in 2019 and continued till 2022. At the time, the Congress was in power. The ED has informed a PMLA court in Raipur that the syndicate behind the scam was led by former Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar’s brother Anwar and retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja. Among other things, the syndicate they are accused of running allegedly altered the liquor policy and created a parallel system to sell liquor. The Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) procured liquor only from those paying a commission to the syndicate and a major portion of this went to the Congress.
While the ED estimates a loss of Rs 2,161 crore to the exchequer, the state Economic Offences Wing (EOW) that is probing the crime aspect of the reported liquor scam recently pegged it at Rs 3,200 crore and chargesheeted 22 excise department officials.
Chaitanya, whose exact role in this has not been publicly revealed at the moment, is a member of the Congress, but has chosen to stay away from politics, according to party insiders. His electoral politics debut was initially planned when his father was at the helm of the state between 2018 and 2023, but it did not materialise. After Baghel was nominated to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Rajnandgaon, speculation was rife that Chaitanya would enter the Assembly from his Patan Assembly constituency. But with the former CM losing the parliamentary election, this did not come to pass.
One of Baghel’s four children, he has never held any party post and looks after the family’s vegetable farm. He was earlier involved in the real estate business, according to Congress insiders. This is not his first brush with law enforcement agencies. Last year, days after Baghel wrote to then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud over the alleged misuse of state and central agencies to defame him and “end his political career”, the police in Durg questioned Chaitanya in connection with the attempted murder of a professor in Bhilai.
This arrest is a setback for Baghel, the Congress’s tallest leader in Chhattisgarh. Since losing the elections, he has been an integral part of the party’s national leadership. Earlier this year, he was appointed the AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab in an attempt to unify the faction-ridden state unit. Often referred to by the nickname “Kaka”, which translates to uncle, Baghel is known for being an approachable leader.
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