The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at the residence of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday, PTI reported.
The CBI teams raided Baghel's residence in Raipur and Bhilai as well as the residential premises of a senior police officer and a close aide of the former chief minister, the official told PTI.
In a post from Baghel's X handle, the former chief minister's office said, "Now CBI has arrived. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is scheduled to go to Delhi today for the meeting of the 'Drafting Committee' constituted for the AICC meeting to be held in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on 8 and 9 April. Before that, the CBI has reached Raipur and Bhilai Niwas."
The CBI has taken over the investigation from the Economic Offences Wing of the Chhattisgarh Police, which had earlier named Congress leader Baghel, promoters of the app, Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni, and Anil Kumar Agrawal, and 14 others in its FIR.
The Enforcement Directorate, which is also probing the case, has alleged that its probe revealed the involvement of several top politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh.
The app was an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of 'benami' bank accounts, it claimed. The projected proceeds of crime are about Rs 6,000 crore, the ED earlier said.
Congress Party Calls It 'Politically Motivated'
Meanwhile, the Congress party claimed the CBI's searches were politically motivated and asserted it will not be intimidated by such actions.
Senior Congress leader and former state Deputy CM TS Singh Deo condemned the action and claimed the central agencies have been trying to harass Baghel.
"The attempt by the agencies to harass former CM Bhupesh Baghel ji repeatedly is condemnable. It is only the BJP's failed attempt to tarnish Bhupesh ji's image. The state BJP government is incapable of running the government, therefore it has been making such efforts to divert attention from the issues related to the public," Singh Deo alleged in a post on the microblogging website X.
