Days after ED, CBI now at Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel's residence

The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) today, Wednesday conducted searches at the residence of veteran Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, officials said.

The agency teams swooped down at the residence of Baghel in Raipur and Bhilai as well as the residential premises of a senior police officer and a close associate of the former chief minister, they said. The agency is tight-lipped about the matter in which the searches are being conducted, though sources suggest they may be linked to the alleged Mahadev betting app scam as per some reports.

Recently, premises linked to Baghel and his son Chaitanya were raided by the ED (Enforcement Directorate), which had also conducted searches at Baghel's residence in connection with an alleged liquor scam case.

In a post in Hindi on X this morning, Baghel's office wrote, "Now the CBI has come. Former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel was scheduled to travel to Delhi today for a meeting of the drafting committee constituted for the AICC meeting to be held in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on 8 and 9 April. Even before that, the CBI has reached his Raipur and Bhilai residences."

State Congress communication wing chief Sushil Anand Shukla slammed the BJP over the action and claimed the ruling party was scared of Baghel. “Ever since Baghel has become the party in-charge of Punjab, the BJP is scared. First, the Enforcement Directorate was sent to his residence and now, the CBI has been sent. This shows the BJP's fear. When the BJP fails to fight politically, it uses Central agencies against its opponents," he alleged.

"Neither Bhupesh Baghel nor the Congress party is scared,” Shukla said. The people of the country and the state are well aware of these "oppressive" policies of the BJP, he said.

Earlier, too, the CBI had lodged a case against Baghel in connection with an alleged seven-year-old (sleaze) CD matter, but a CBI court recently discharged him in the case, Shukla added.

The BJP-led state government last year handed over to the CBI 70 cases related to the alleged Mahadev betting app scam, lodged with different police stations, and one case registered with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in the state.

With agency inputs