Chhattisgarh liquor 'scam' | Ex-CM Baghel's son received Rs 250 cr: Chargesheet

Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, received between Rs 200 crore and Rs 250 crore as his share from the alleged liquor scam in the state, the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing (ACB/EOW) has claimed in its chargesheet.

In its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the multi-crore liquor scam, filed before a special court in Raipur on Monday (December 22), the state police’s ACB/EOW alleged that Chaitanya played a key role in establishing, coordinating and protecting an extortion racket within the excise department during the previous Congress government, which was in power from 2018 to 2023.

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The voluminous chargesheet, running to around 3,800 pages, has named Chaitanya as an accused in the alleged scam, estimated to be worth over Rs 3,000 crore, the ACB/EOW said.

With this, a total of eight chargesheets have been filed in the case so far.

Funds moved via associates

The latest chargesheet details the current status of the investigation against the arrested accused, along with digital evidence reports about all those in custody. The document also outlines the progress of the ongoing probe against the accused persons.

The statement quoting the chargesheet said Chaitanya acted as coordinator among officials such as Anil Tuteja, Soumya Chaurasia, Arunpati Tripathi, and Niranjan Das, who worked in line with the syndicate's interests at the administrative level and as ground-level operatives of the network, such as Anwar Dhebar, Arvind Singh, and Vikas Agarwal (all co-accused), and issued instructions to them.

Chaitanya worked through his trusted associates to transfer and manage proceeds of the scam collected by businessman Anwar Dhebar's team, moving the funds to higher levels, it claimed.

Money transferred to family firms

He allegedly received his share of the proceeds through various firms belonging to liquor businessman Trilok Singh Dhillon, transferring it through banking channels to his family firms and using it in real estate projects.

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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."

Administrative influence

The investigation has also revealed that high-level protection, policy/administrative intervention, and influence provided to the syndicate by Chaitanya 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 on July 18 following a search at his house, which he shares with his father, a Congress politician, in Bhilai town of Durg district.

Massive loss to exchequer

As per the ED's prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed earlier, Chaitanya "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 alleged 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 was arrested by the ACB/EOW in September while he was in jail under judicial custody.

Key accused arrested

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.

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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 Chief Minister Bhupesh 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.