ED searches 14 locations linked to son of former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday conducted searches at 14 locations, including the premises linked to the son of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Chhattisgarh liquor case.

The ED raided the premises of Chaitanya Baghel and also his close associate Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal. The searches were also conducted in Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

Agency sources said that Chaitanya is an alleged recipient of proceeds of crime generated from the alleged liquor scandal wherein total proceeds of crime is around ₹2,161 crore siphoned off through various schemes.


ET had reported on Monday that the Chhattisgarh government informed the Supreme Court last week that investigation by the police has put the extent of loss to the exchequer due to the alleged liquor scam at nearly ₹5,000 crore. ET had reported last April that the ED had claimed that former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, a 2003-batch officer, was the "chief architect" of the alleged scandal. The agency had registered a fresh FIR on April 9, 2024, based on an existing FIR registered by the Economic Office Wing. The fresh FIR was filed after the SC recently quashed ED's earlier FIR that was based on an income-tax department complaint. ED had claimed that its probe revealed that Tuteja was in receipt of the proceeds of crime amounting to ₹14.41 crore and was the "mastermind" of the alleged liquor scandal.

"Though officially not part of the excise department of Chhattisgarh, he was constantly involved in decisions pertaining to the excise department. He was also found discussing excise matters with other co-accused in the matter," a senior official had told ET.

Private liquor shops are not allowed to operate in Chhattisgarh. All liquor shops are run by state government-run body M/s CSMCL (Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd), which is the only entity with the responsibility to requisition and purchase liquor from distillers and IMFL suppliers. The liquor is then sold through approximately 800 state-run shops. These shops are run by out-sourced manpower suppliers and the cash generated through sale of liquor is collected through outsourced cash collection agencies.