In a bombshell disclosure, the Enforcement Directorate Raipur Zonal Office (ED-RPZO) on Monday confirmed that Chaitanya Baghel alias Bittu, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, personally received Rs 16.70 crore in cash from the Rs 3,200 crore liquor scam, laundered through real estate investments. The confirmation comes three days after his arrest by the ED’s Raipur Zonal Office (ED-RPZO) on July 18, 2025. ED officials stated that Baghel diverted illicit funds into property ventures, using complex financial layering and shell transactions. According to the official communique from ED-RPZO, Baghel had been arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and produced before the Special PMLA Court in Raipur.

 

The court granted five-day ED custody till July 22, 2025. The ED’s investigation is based on an FIR lodged by the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB), which has pegged the total scam proceeds at over Rs 2,500 crore, generated between 2019 and 2022 through illegal commissions, fake hologram sales, and parallel liquor distribution. According to the ED, Chaitanya Baghel used his real estate firms to launder Rs 16.70 crore in PoC into property development projects.