Bhupesh Baghel Links Son Chaitanya's ED Arrest To 'Illegal' Tree Felling: 'To Divert Attention... No Notice, No Inquiry'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Reacting to his son's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said that the ED raid was conducted at his house to“divert attention” from the issue of“illegal” felling of trees in the state.

“Under the supervision of the government, thousands of trees were cut illegally in Tamnar while villagers were held hostage. The Leader of Opposition had brought a proposal against this in the Assembly. To divert attention and prevent the proposal, an ED raid was conducted at my house at 6 am that morning,” Baghel told ANI.

Baghel's son, Chaitanya Baghel , was arrested by the ED on Friday in connection to an alleged liquor scam-linked money laundering case.

Baghel further alleged that no ED notice was sent, now was an inquiry launched before his son's arrest.“Last time, also during the budget session, an ED and Income Tax raid was conducted at my house, and I was not allowed to reach the House. But this time, I was successful in reaching the Assembly. When we were in the House, we got the information that the ED had arrested my son. Between the raid conducted on 10th March and the arrest yesterday, no notice was received, nor was any inquiry conducted," Bhupesh Baghel added.

ED cites 'active involvement'

The ED has claimed that Chaitanya Baghel received ₹16.70 crore from an alleged liquor scam and played a key role in handling more than ₹1,000 crore that constituted the proceeds of crime.

According to a PTI report, in its remand application filed in a special Raipur court, the ED said its probe has revealed that the senior Congress leader's son was in possession of proceeds of crime, and was also actively involved in its acquisition, possession, concealment, transfer, use, and projecting the same as untainted.

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The ED investigation revealed that ₹5 crore was received by two firms of Chaitanya from M/s Saheli Jewellers, and further Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu has confirmed that these funds were transferred against "cash originating out of liquor scam", the remand application said.

"Further, Chaitanya has not paid any interest against this payment and out of ₹5 crore, ₹4.5 crore is still pending in the books for repayment. Thus, it is evident that the payment made by M/s Baghel Developers owned by Chaitanya is against the payment of an equivalent amount in cash only," the ED remand application added, as reported by PTI.

What else did the ED probe reveal

According to the report, during the investigation, it was revealed that a large part of proceeds of crime (POC) generated from liquor scam was being handed over to Bansal, the ED said.

Bansal, in his statement under section 50 of PMLA, admitted he had received funds worth ₹136 crore in a short span of time (three months) as discussed in the chats held between Anwar Dhebar and Nitesh Purohit (recovered from the phone of Anwar Dhebar, who was an agent for the syndicate and was managing collection on ground and its subsequent delivery to key persons), it said.

Furthermore, he (Bansal) had admitted in his statements that he handled more than ₹1000 crore cash originating out of liquor scam in association with Chaitanya, which are proceeds of crime, the remand application said.

Chaitanya was produced in the court of Special Judge (Prevention of Money Laundering Act-PMLA), which granted his custodial remand to the ED till July 22 with the ED seeking his custody for five days, the Central agency's counsel Saurabh Kumar Pande told reporters.

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