Dhamtari/Raipur, Aug 20 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out a search at the residence of Congress leader Ram Gopal Agrawal, who was arrested by the central agency last week in connection with an alleged liquor scam, in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district, officials said.
A large number of Congress leaders and workers, including Dhamtari MLA Omkar Sahu, gathered outside Agrawal’s residence in the Audyogik Ward area here and staged a protest against the ED action.
Congress leaders and workers raised slogans against the central government and the ED.
The ED’s raids are also underway at a few other locations in Raipur, but officials have not yet confirmed which case the searches are linked to.
Talking to reporters in Raipur, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee president Deepak Baij alleged that central probe agencies are being used to intimidate opposition leaders.
“ED and CBI action in Chhattisgarh is no longer a new thing. ED, CBI, Income Tax and other agencies have made it a routine to target and intimidate opposition leaders,” Baij alleged.
“Ram Gopal Agrawal is already in the custody of the ED and is being questioned. Despite this, the ED has been conducting a raid at his residence. This is nothing new for us…Opposition leaders are being targeted and raids are being conducted to scare and threaten them,” he claimed.
Agrawal was arrested by the state’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) last month in connection with the alleged coal levy scam and was also being questioned in cases linked to the alleged liquor scam and rice custom milling, officials said.
The alleged scams took place during the previous Congress government in the state when Agrawal was treasurer of the party’s state unit, are being probed by both the ED and the EOW.
The ED arrested Agrawal on August 11 in connection with the money-laundering investigation linked to the alleged liquor scam while he was in jail as an undertrial in the EOW case, officials said.
According to the ED, the alleged liquor scam was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022, when Chhattisgarh was governed by a Congress government led by the then Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
The agency has alleged that a “criminal” syndicate involving senior bureaucrats and political figures had “completely hijacked” the state excise department, resulting in a loss of Rs 2,883 crore to the state exchequer.
So far, the ED has filed six chargesheets and named 81 accused, including former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, Chaitanya Baghel, son of former CM Bhupesh Baghel, former Chhattisgarh Excise Commissioner Niranjan Das, retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, and former Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office Saumya Chaurasia, among others.
The EOW has claimed that the proceeds of crime linked to the alleged liquor scam could exceed Rs 3,500 crore. PTI COR TKP NP
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