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 of this syndicate” and had a “commanding and decisive” role in handling funds.

“He was responsible for maintaining the [accounts] of all illicit funds collected by the syndicate,” the chargesheet alleged. “All major decisions relating to collection, channelisation, and distribution of funds were taken under his instructions. His position as the chief minister’s son made him the controller and ultimate authority of the syndicate.”

In July, the ED had said that Chaitanya Baghel was named in the case on the basis of a statement by Laxmi Narayan Bansal who had told the agency about handling more than Rs 1,000 crore that was made from the scam.

Denying the allegations, Chaitanya Baghel’s lawyer Faisal Rizvi had told The Indian Express that the ED was relying on the statement of Bansal, against whom a permanent warrant had been issued by the Economic Offences Wing in May.

“In the first week of June, the ED recorded his statement and, based on it, arrested Chaitanya,” Rizvi told The Indian Express. “Such a person [Bansal] can say anything to save himself. He is neither a witness nor has the ED named him as an accused.”

Bhupesh Baghel had earlier claimed that his son’s arrest was “politically motivated” because he opposed the Adani coal mining project in Raigarh, the newspaper reported.

He also said that while a court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Bansal, he continues to move freely and give statements. “It is understandable how these agencies, the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party respect the court,” The Indian Express had quoted him as saying.

The liquor scam

The Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a first information report in the alleged liquor scam in January 2024 based on the ED’s complaints.

The FIR accused 70 persons of involvement in the alleged scam, including former state Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, Special Secretary Arun Pati Tripathi and Tuteja.

They have been charged with corruption, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Lakhma, a six-time MLA from Konta in Sukma district, was arrested in the case by the central agency in January.

Although the ED had filed a prosecution complaint last year, Lakhma and others were linked to the case in the latest FIR.

In March, searches were conducted in 14 locations in Durg district linked to Chaitanya Baghel.

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