Raipur: The CBI on Wednesday searched the Raipur and Bhilai residences of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, in connection with the alleged Rs 6,000 crore Mahadev betting app case. Raids were also carried out at the residences of Baghel’s advisor Vinod Verma and senior police officers.
CBI sleuths faced resistance when they reached Bhilai MLA Devendra Yadav’s house at 7.45 am. Yadav’s supporters tried to prevent the officials from entering the premises.
Bhupesh Baghel’s office stated that he was set to attend a meeting at the Congress Headquarters in Delhi when the CBI arrived at Raipur and Bhilai. “The CBI has come. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is scheduled to go to Delhi today for the meeting of the Drafting Committee constituted for the AICC meeting to be held in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on 8th and 9th April. Before this, the CBI has reached Raipur and Bhilai residence,” the ‘X’ post states.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate had raided 14 locations in Durg as part of ongoing investigations into a Rs 2,161 crore liquor scam. The ED had searched the residence of Baghel’s son, Chaitanya Baghel, and his close associate, Laxmi Narayan Bansal. Chaitanya Baghel is alleged to be involved in the scam. This has been denied by the family and the Congress though.
Congress leader Sushil Anand Shukla claimed that the CBI was sent by the BJP to disturb Bhupesh Baghel’s programmes in Delhi. “Earlier they (BJP) had sent ED to his residence. Today, CBI has come to Bhupesh Baghel’s Raipur and Bhilai residences. He is scheduled to go to Delhi today. To disturb this program, BJP has sent CBI to his residence today. BJP is rattled as it is not being able to compete with us politically,” Shukla said.
The CBI took over the Mahadev Betting app case from the Chhattisgarh Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which had named Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel and 17 others in its FIR. Baghel dismissed the case as being “politically motivated.”
The ED, which is also probing the case, claims top politicians and bureaucrats were involved. The Agency alleges the Mahadev app operated as a syndicate for illegal betting, laundering money through ‘benami’ accounts and that the estimated proceeds of crime total nearly Rs 6,000 crore.
