NEW DELHI: Former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel said late on Wednesday that the CBI raids at his premises were politically motivated. He alleged that the action was meant to create material for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech during his visit to the state on March 30.
Baghel claimed he had not received any prior notice about the searches at his official residence in Raipur and said that he was not responsible for “whatever the CBI had planted there.”
The CBI conducted searches at Baghel’s residences in Raipur and Bhilai on Wednesday in connection with the alleged Rs 6,000 crore Mahadev app scam. Officials said the houses of senior police officers and individuals associated with the former chief minister were also searched.
Baghel said that the CBI took documents related to his assets and seized his mobile phones from his residence in Bhilai. Among those whose premises were searched were Congress MLA Devendra Yadav in Bhilai, former political advisor Vinod Verma, and IPS officers Anand Chhabra, Abhishek Pallava, Arif Shaikh, and Prashant Agrawal. State police service officer Sanjay Dhruv was also among those whose homes were raided, according to sources.
After the search at his Bhilai residence, Baghel said, “The raids were politically motivated. The action was carried out just to generate content for the PM’s speech during his upcoming visit to the state on March 30. There was no other reason.”
He also claimed that the CBI had a search warrant for his Bhilai residence but did not inform him about the raid at his official residence in Raipur.
“I didn’t receive any notice about raids in Raipur’s official residence. I learnt about the raids after I came out of the house. Whatever they had planted there, I will not be responsible for it because neither I, nor my family members were there. This is their (CBI’s) conspiracy,” he said while talking to reporters.
Baghel said the previous Congress government had acted against the Mahadev betting app.
“During (previous) Congress government in the state, around 74 FIRs were lodged in connection with Mahadev betting app and more than 200 people were arrested and over 2000 bank accounts related to it were freezed.
“We took action against the app, but they (government agencies) claim we protected the app and took money. How will the one who takes action accept the protection money? Protection money is taken where there is a double engine (government) and betting is still functional,” he claimed.
He further said that the Congress government had requested the Centre to issue a lookout notice against the app’s promoters, Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, and to arrest them abroad.
“But (religious guru) Pradeep Mishra, who praises the BJP, visited Dubai by becoming a guest of Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal.
“If CBI officials have courage, they should ask Pardeep Mishra whose programme is currently underway in the home district of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai in Jashpur about his relations with Saurabh Chandrakar and Pradeep Mishra,” Baghel said.
He also claimed that while the promoters of the app had been seen in photos with BJP leaders, no action was being taken against them, whereas Congress leaders were being investigated.
Baghel mentioned that he was supposed to attend a drafting committee meeting in Delhi for the AICC session in Ahmedabad but was unable to go due to the raids.
“The CBI entered my house at around 7.30 am and left at 9.15 pm despite the search ending at around 4.15 pm. Fifteen days ago, the ED had raided my house. What they (CBI) will get by raiding?” he asked.
He said the ED had taken photocopies of his property-related documents, while the CBI took away the original papers.
“I told the CBI to leave photocopies because IT and EOW will follow them. Otherwise what they will recover in the name of action?” he said.
Baghel also said that although the ED’s raid was linked to an alleged liquor scam and the CBI’s action was related to the Mahadev app, both agencies were investigating his assets.
“The previous Raman Singh-head BJP government had got my assets probed. The state’s EOW did the same. I invite all agencies to come together and do an investigation at once. The actions are aimed at defaming and harassing me,” he said.
He alleged that the BJP was frustrated after he was made Congress in-charge of Punjab and was recently cleared by the court in a seven-year-old (sleaze) CD case.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Arun Sao said the Congress should not connect the CBI searches to politics and should cooperate with the investigation.
Last year, the state government handed over 70 cases related to the Mahadev scam to the CBI, including one registered with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
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.
