Ex-CM Baghel's son got Rs 250 crore as his share from Chhattisgarh liquor 'scam': Chargesheet
Raipur (PTI): Chaitanya, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, received Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore as his share from an alleged liquor scam in the state, the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offence Wing (ACB/EOW) has claimed in its chargesheet.
The state police's ACB/EOW, in its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the multi-crore liquor scam filed before a special court here on Monday, claimed Chaitanya Baghel played a key role in establishing, coordinating, and protecting an extortion racket (syndicate) within the excise department (during the previous Congress government, which was in office from 2018-23).
The voluminous document, running into around 3,800 pages, has named Chaitnaya Baghel as an accused in the alleged scam pegged at more than Rs 3,000 crore, an ACB/EOW statement said.
With this, a total of eight chargesheets have been filed in the case so far.
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.
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The statement quoting the chargesheet said Chaitanya Baghel 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 Baghel 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.
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.
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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Trump warns he's considering limited strikes as Iranian diplomat says proposed deal is imminent
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible even as the country's top diplomat said Tehran expects to have a proposed deal ready in the next few days following nuclear talks with the United States.
In response to a reporter's question on whether the US could take limited military action as the countries negotiate, Trump said, “I guess I can say I am considering that.” Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a TV interview that his country was planning to finalise a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to then send to Washington.
“I don't think it takes long, perhaps, in a matter of a week or so, we can start real, serious negotiations on the text and come to a conclusion,” Araghchi said on MSNOW's “Morning Joe” show.
The tensions between the longtime adversaries have ramped up as the Trump administration pushes for concessions from Iran and has built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades, with more warships and aircraft on the way. Both countries have signalled that they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear programme fizzle out.
“We are prepared for war, and we are prepared for peace,” Araghchi said Friday.
Trump said a day earlier that he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal following recent rounds of indirect negotiations, including this week in Geneva, that made little visible progress. But the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider US and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups.
Araghchi also said Friday that his American counterparts have not asked for zero enrichment of uranium as part of the latest round of talks, which is in contradiction to what US officials have said.
"What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran's nuclear programme, including enrichment, is peaceful and will remain peaceful forever," he said.
He added that in return Iran will implement some confidence-building measures in exchange for relief on economic sanctions.
In response to Araghchi's claim, a White House official said Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them and that it cannot enrich uranium. The official wasn't authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations should only focus on its nuclear programme and that it hasn't been enriching uranium since US and Israeli strikes last June on Iranian nuclear sites. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran's nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors.
Iran has also insisted that its nuclear programme is peaceful. The US and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons.
