India’s ED freezes ₹61.2 crore in assets linked to Chaitanya Baghel in liquor scam probe.

The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth ₹61.2 crore belonging to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in connection with a money laundering probe tied to the state’s liquor scam. The assets include 364 plots and agricultural land valued at ₹59.96 crore, plus ₹1.24 crore in bank balances and fixed deposits. The ED alleges Chaitanya, who has been in custody since July 2025, played a central role in a liquor syndicate, using illicit funds—estimated at over ₹2,500 crore—to develop his real estate project, “Vitthal Green.” The case, based on an FIR by Chhattisgarh’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, is under investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act and PMLA. The Raipur Congress spokesperson called the move politically driven, claiming the property is ancestral.