The Economic Offences Wing and Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Chhattisgarh Police on Monday alleged that former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s son, Chaitanya Baghel, personally gained Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore in an alleged liquor scam in the state between 2019 and 2022, The Indian Express reported.

Bhupesh Baghel was the chief minister of Chhattisgarh between December 2018 and December 2023.

In its seventh supplementary chargesheet filed on Monday, the Economic Offences Wing alleged that a syndicate of senior bureaucrats, politicians and excise department officials operated a parallel excise system, selling illegal liquor and causing a loss of Rs 3,074 crore to the state exchequer, The Indian Express reported.

Chaitanya Baghel, who was arrested in July in connection with the alleged liquor scam, has been accused of acting as a bridge between government officials and the alleged liquor syndicate.

The Economic Offences Wing has alleged that Chaitanya Baghel helped transfer proceeds collected by the network allegedly run by Anwar Dhebar, another accused in the case, up the chain within the liquor syndicate, The Indian Express reported.

Anwar Dhebar is the brother of former Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar.

In return, Chaitanya Baghel allegedly received a share of the money through firms linked to another suspect in the case, Trilok Singh Dhillon. The funds were then allegedly funnelled into family-owned firms and real estate projects.

“The scale of the scam evidence indicates that besides managing funds at a high level, Chaitanya personally received approximately Rs 200-Rs 250 crore,” The Indian Express quoted a press release by the agency as saying.

An unidentified official told The Indian Express that as of now the liquor scam was valued at Rs 3,074 crore, but further investigation suggested that the amount could exceed Rs 3,500 crore.

With this a total of eight chargesheets have been filed in the case so far, The Times of India reported.

In response to the Economic Offences Wing’s allegations, Chaitanya Baghel’s lawyer told The Indian Express that the investigating agency has “no evidence”.

“They are making a case based on statements of absconding accused in the case,” he was quoted as saying.

In September, the Enforcement Directorate had alleged that Chaitanya Baghel was the “controller and ultimate authority” of the “organised liquor syndicate” in the state.

The Enforcement Directorate had also claimed that it had established that the former chief minister’s son personally handled about Rs 1,000 crore generated from the alleged scam.

The liquor scam case

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

The bureau had alleged that during Bhupesh Baghel’s tenure a syndicate of bureaucrats and politicians ran a parallel excise department, under which liquor was sold without any revenue going to the state exchequer.

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

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