On Monday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of being an “agent” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and dismissed the ED’s claim of discovering an alleged liquor scam in the state as untrue and lacking a factual basis.
Baghel’s statement came in response to the ED’s recent claim that it had uncovered the alleged scam in Chhattisgarh. Baghel has alleged that the BJP, which is gearing up for the upcoming assembly elections in the state, is using the ED to tarnish the image of the Congress-led government. The assembly elections in Chhattisgarh are scheduled to be held later this year.
The ED on Saturday arrested liquor businessman Anwar Dhebar, the brother of Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, in connection with an alleged liquor scam.
In its remand application filed in a special court here seeking remand of Anwar, the ED claimed there was a “massive scam” in liquor trade in Chhattisgarh by a syndicate, comprising high-level state government officials, private persons and political executives, that generated corruption money of more than Rs 2,000 crore between 2019-22.
