Furthermore, he was also found to have received and invested large sums of money generated out of the scam through banking channels via his family members, friends, and associates, the chargesheet claimed.The probe agency said, “Evidence indicates that Chaitanya, along with managing the proceeds of the crime at a higher level, received around Rs 200 crore-Rs 250 crore as his share.”The investigation has also revealed that high-level protection, policy/administrative intervention, and influence provided to the syndicate by Chaitanya Baghel enabled this crime to be perpetrated for a long period, it claimed.”The ongoing investigation suggests the amount involved in the liquor scam is estimated to be approximately Rs 3,074 crore.However, further investigation suggests the total amount of the proceeds of crime generated out of the alleged scam could exceed Rs 3,500 crore,” it added.The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money laundering angle in the alleged scam, arrested Chaitanya Baghel on July 18 following a search at his house, which he shares with his father, a Congress politician, in Bhilai town of Durg district.As per the ED’s prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed earlier, Chaitanya Baghel “handled” more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of “proceeds of crime” generated from a liquor “scam” in the state.The central agency has stated that the alleged scam resulted in a “massive loss” to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate.The scam was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when then-CM Bhupesh Baghel headed the Congress government in Chhattisgarh.Money was “illegally” collected from “every” bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh (between 2019 and 2022), said the anti-money laundering agency.Chaitanya Baghel was arrested by the ACB/EOW in September while he was in jail under judicial custody.The ED in January arrested former excise minister and Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, businessman Anwar Dhebar (brother of Congress leader and former Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar), former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi and a few others as part of their probe in the case.The EOW/ACB registered an FIR on January 17, 2024, in the alleged scam, naming 70 individuals and companies, including Lakhma and former chief secretary Vivek Dhand.After his son was arrested, former CM Baghel claimed that the action was taken because the Congress, during its rule, tried to stop the cutting of forests and mining activities in the state.The Congress leader also alleged that the probe agencies were being misused to target Opposition leaders.
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