Raipur
A Raipur court will hear the anticipatory bail plea of Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on September 19. He is in jail in connection with the Chhattisgarh liquor scam case.
Earlier, Chaitanya had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the High Court to avoid arrest by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), but it was rejected on Monday. The High Court directed him to approach a lower court.
Baghel’s lawyer filed the anticipatory bail application on Tuesday evening. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also submitted a 7,000-page chargesheet against him. Chaitanya was arrested on 18 July 2025 and has been lodged in Raipur jail since.
The chargesheet alleges that Baghel invested black money from the liquor scam in real estate projects, showing fake investments to convert it into white money. It also claims that the syndicate handled ₹1,000 crore.
According to the ED, Baghel received ₹16.70 crore from the liquor scam. The investigation revealed that the scam money was invested in Baghel’s real estate project, Vitthal Green, a venture of Baghel Developers.
During raids, the ED seized records from the project’s accountant. Consultant Rajendra Jain stated that the actual cost of the project was ₹13–15 crore, while the records only showed ₹7.14 crore. Seized digital devices also revealed that Baghel’s company made an unrecorded cash payment of ₹4.2 crore to a contractor.
The ED also found that Trilok Singh Dhillon transferred ₹5 crore to Baghel Developers to buy 19 flats in the names of his employees. The ED said this was a pre-planned transaction on 19 October 2020 to conceal the money.
According to the ED, a jeweller from Bhilai lent ₹5 crore to two of Baghel’s companies. Later, the jeweller bought six plots for ₹80 lakh. The ED claims this was scam money transferred through a bank route to legalise it.
The ED alleges that Baghel used shell companies and proxies to route money through Dhillon City Mall and Dhillon Drinks employees, finally transferring it to Baghel Developers.
ED lawyer Saurabh Pandey stated that evidence revealed Chaitanya Baghel’s involvement in money laundering and handling ₹1,000 crore. He added that the money was routed through Pappu Bansal, Anwar Dhebar, Deependra Chavda, KK Srivastava, and Congress treasurer Ramgopal Agarwal.
On the other hand, Baghel’s lawyer Faizal Rizvi called the arrest unjustified, arguing it was based only on a statement by Pappu Bansal, who himself is an accused with a non-bailable warrant and still absconding.
Rizvi said that despite the probe ongoing since 2022, Baghel was never summoned. Even though his digital devices were seized in a March raid, he cooperated with the agency and provided all documents. The lawyer claimed that Baghel’s “only crime” was being the son of the former Chief Minister.
The Chhattisgarh liquor scam case, under investigation by the ED, involves an alleged scam of over ₹3,200 crore. The FIR names politicians, excise department officials, and businessmen. The ED suggests that the scam was carried out by a syndicate of IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Excise MD AP Tripathi, and businessman Anwar Dhebar during the tenure of the former government.
