The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his son as part of a money-laundering probe linked to an alleged liquor scam, prompting the Congress to claim there was a
“conspiracy”.

The Congress said the raids were a ploy to divert attention from the issues on which the Opposition sought to corner the government on a day the budget session of Parliament resumed.

Sources in the ED said 14 premises in Chhattisgarh were raided, including those belonging to Bhupesh and his son Chaitanya.

The premises linked to Chaitanya in Bhilai (Durg district), Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal — an alleged associate of Chaitanya — and some others are also being searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. Chaitanya shares the Bhilai accommodation with his father.

“The alleged corruption in the excise department began in 2019 and continued till 2022 when the Congress was in power in Chhattisgarh. A probe has revealed that Chaitanya allegedly received proceeds from the liquor scam,” said an ED official.

The ED has not clarified Bhupesh’s role in the alleged case.

Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said in a video statement that the raid was a “conspiracy” to manage headlines at a time the Opposition was seeking to corner the government in Parliament on multiple issues.

“Today, when the Parliament session is starting, the BJP, which is cornered from all sides, got the ED to raid the house of senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghelji in order to change the headlines and divert the country’s attention from tariff, falling economy, voter list fraud, etc,” Khera alleged.

“The BJP should understand that it will neither be able to stop the Congress nor any of our leaders. We are not afraid, nor will we be afraid,” Khera said.

He claimed that a few days ago the court had binned a case against Bhupesh and no cases were pending against him.

Bhupesh’s office issued a statement on X alleging this was a conspiracy to stop him from doing the Congress’s work in Punjab. Earlier this year, Bhupesh was appointed Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab.

“When the false case going on for seven years was dismissed in the court, ED guests entered the Bhilai residence of former CM and Congress general secretary Bhupesh Baghel… If someone is trying to stop the Congress in Punjab with this conspiracy, then they are mistaken,” the statement in Hindi said.

The central agency had earlier said the Chhattisgarh liquor scam resulted in “massive loss” to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate with more than ₹2,100 crore.

It alleged that the syndicate, led by some Congress leaders and a retired IAS officer, altered the liquor policy and created a parallel system to sell liquor. It also accused the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited of procuring liquor only from those paying a commission to the syndicate and that a substantial portion of the money went to the Congress.