- Raipur court extended Chaitanya Baghel's judicial custody till August 18 in money laundering case
- Chaitanya was arrested by ED on July 18 linked to Chhattisgarh liquor scam proceeds
- ED claims over Rs 1,000 crore of crime proceeds handled by Chaitanya, Rs 16.7 crore used in real estate
A Raipur court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Chaitanya Baghel, son of senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, till August 18 in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor scam in the state.
The ED demanded Chaitanya's further judicial remand for 14 days after the expiry of his previous 14-day judicial remand, his lawyer Faisal Rizvi told reporters.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has extended his judicial custody till August 18, Rizvi said.
Chaitanya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 18 following a search at his house which he shares with his father in Bhilai town in Durg district.
Chaitanya "handled" more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of "proceeds of crime" generated from a liquor "scam" in the state and used Rs 16.7 crore for the development of his real estate project, the ED had claimed in a statement at the time of his arrest.
Bhupesh Baghel has claimed Central agencies were being misused to target opposition leaders, but stressed that he trusted the judiciary and would cooperate with them.
He had also claimed the ED action against his son was part of efforts to divert attention from the "illegal tree felling" for coal mines in the state as the Congress was set to raise the issue in the state Assembly last week.
Congress had also staged 'chakka jam' (road blockade) in different parts of the state on Tuesday protesting ED action.
The ED has said the alleged scam resulted in a "massive loss" to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate with over Rs 2,100 crore.
The "scam" in the state, according to the ED, was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when Chhattisgarh was governed by the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government.
The ED in January arrested former minister and Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, besides Anwar Dhebar, former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi and some others as part of their investigations in the case.
The EOW/ACB registered the FIR on January 17 last year, about a month after the BJP defeated the incumbent Congress government in the 2023 assembly polls, and named 70 individuals and companies, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and former chief secretary Vivek Dhand.
According to the ED, the alleged commission generated through the illegal sale of liquor was shared "as per the directions from the highest political executives of the state".
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
