ED attaches assets worth ₹61.2 crore belonging to Baghel’s son

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday (November 13, 2025) said that it has provisionally attached assets worth ₹61.2 crore belonging to Chaitanya Baghel – the son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel – who is facing money laundering probe linked to the alleged liquor scam in the State.

In a statement issued by the Raipur Zonal Office of the ED, the agency claimed that the list of attached assets include immovable properties in the form of 364 pieces of residential plots and agricultural lands worth ₹59.96 crore. It added that the movable properties in the form of bank balances and fixed deposits worth ₹1.24 crore were also attached.

The predicate offence is a case under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which pertains to the alleged scam that purportedly took place when the State was being ruled by the Congress with Mr. Bhupesh Baghel as the Chief Minister.

The police investigation has revealed that Chhattisgarh liquor scam resulted in a massive loss to the State exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries with Proceeds of Crime (POC) generated by the commission of scheduled offences, worth more than ₹2500 crore.

On the money laundering angle and the specific role of Mr. Chaitanya Baghel, who has been in jail since July this year, the ED statement noted that “Chaitanya Baghel, son of Bhupesh Baghel, was positioned at the apex of the liquor syndicate”.

“His position as the Chief Minister’s son made him the controller and ultimate authority of the liquor syndicate. He was responsible for maintaining the hisab (accounts) of all illicit funds collected by the syndicate,” it added.

According to the ED investigation, the press release further established that Mr. Chaitanya Baghel was a recipient of proceeds of crime (POC), which he layered through his real estate business and projected as untainted assets. According to the ED, Chaitanya Baghel utilised the POC generated from the liquor scam for the development of his real estate project, “Vitthal Green,” under his proprietorship concern, M/s Baghel Developers.

Responding to the development, Raipur Congress spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla said that action was malicious as ancestral property was being attached. “The people of Chhattisgarh will never forgive this,” he said.