Why Chhattisgarh CM thinks Centre is using probe agencies as electoral tool

Baghel has pointedly blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the August 23 searches by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted in the premises of personal staff members. He accused the BJP leadership of using the ED and Income Tax authorities as a tool against the state government ahead of polls expected to take place in about three months.

The August 23 searches took place the day Baghel turned 62, and Modi wished him on Twitter. “Respected Prime Minister and Amit Shah! Thank you for the precious gift on my birthday. You have sent ED to my political advisor, my OSD and my close friends. I am grateful for this precious gift,” a peeved Baghel tweeted.

Latest friction

The latest row between the state government and the BJP followed raids by the ED on Vinod Verma, political advisor to the Chief Minister, and two officers on special duty, Ashish Verma and Manish Banchor. The searches were supposedly a part of a money laundering case linked to online betting.

Baghel accused the ED of using force on suspects to make false allegations against members of the Chhattisgarh government. He argued that the online gaming app in question does not even have an office in Chhattisgarh. “There were about 72 cases registered against them by the Chhattisgarh police. We have issued a lookout notice against Saurabh Chandra, the main accused in the Mahadev app online betting case,” he said on Monday.

“The state police have arrested 449 people from Mumbai, Delhi and various other states. The police have seized 191 laptops, 885 mobiles and several other electronic gadgets. They have also seized Rs 41 lakh in cash, Rs 16 crore in bank accounts, and over 200 ATM cards. We have arrested people in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Delhi. People involved in betting have either been apprehended or they have fled and are in hiding,” Baghel added.

Election issue

With elections round the corner, the Chief Minister is turning the ED 'aggression' into an election issue. He said the Modi government was ordering these raids because the state government was resisting attempts by the Centre to give mining contracts to an industrialist allegedly close to the Union government.

According to the ED, members of the Chief Minister’s Office allegedly took money from an illegal gaming app to continue its operations in the state. It has arrested two men, Anil Dammani and Sunil Dammani.

The Congress and Baghel, who is supremely confident of defeating the BJP in the assembly elections, have been asking why there is no investigation into any of the scandals in which BJP leaders are said to be involved.

'More to follow'

The BJP’s in-charge for Chhattisgarh, Om Mathur, added fuel to the fire by publicly stating that more dramatic things than the August 23 raids were set to happen in the state. This only proves the BJP is involved in a conspiracy to embarrass the Congress government, Baghel countered.

Vinod Verma, the aide to Baghel whose premises were searched on August 23, insisted the allegations hurled against him were false.

“The personal staff members of the Chief Minister and friends have been purposely targeted without proof by ED officials. The raids are politically motivated. The ED does not want us to work during the coming elections. The ED officials seized jewellery even though we showed them the bills. Cash given to my son during his wedding were also seized by ED,” he said.

His government has been facing the heat from the ED and other investigative agencies for the past two months. The ED has alleged that senior government officials and politicians have duped the exchequer of Rs 2,161 crore in an alleged liquor scam. ED officials believe that at least Rs 776 crore was collected by Anwar Dhebar, the main accused and the brother of Raipur mayor Aijaz Dhebar of the Congress.

Apart from the alleged liquor scam, the ED is also investigating an alleged coal levy scam in which officials of the Chief Minister’s Office have been named by the agency. Among those accused are Congress leaders Ram Gopal Agarwal, Devendra Yadav and Chandradev Prasad Rai – the last two are MLAs. The ED has also attached properties worth Rs152 crore allegedly belonging to the accused.