Bhupesh Baghel’s son arrested again in liquor scam case

The Chhattisgarh government’s Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau on Wednesday arrested Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in connection with an alleged liquor scam, The Indian Express reported.

Chaitanya Baghel is already in judicial custody after he was arrested in the matter on July 18 by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He had been arrested by the ED following searches at his home in Durg district’s Bhilai.

On Wednesday, a special court remanded Chaitanya Baghel and Dipen Chawda, another person accused in the matter, to the custody of the Anti-Corruption Bureau till October 6, PTI reported.

While the ED is investigating the money laundering aspect of the alleged scam, the Anti-Corruption Bureau is looking into the corruption and criminal angles.

The second arrest came days after the ED alleged in a chargesheet that Chaitanya Baghel was the “controller and ultimate authority” of an “organised liquor syndicate” in the state. The chargesheet was filed before a district and additional sessions court on September 15.

The central law enforcement agency claimed it had established that Chaitanya Baghel personally handled about Rs 1,000 crore generated from the alleged scam. It alleged that the syndicate was set up in 2019, when Bhupesh Baghel was the chief minister.

The ED alleged that Chaitanya Baghel stood at “the apex...

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