ED Conducts Raids At Multiple Locations In Raipur, Bhupesh Blames BJP

Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said it seems there is no ED office in MP, UP, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Karnataka following a raid at a Congress leader’s office in Raipur.

Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

Source : ANI

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched raids at multiple locations in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh’s Raipur on Tuesday, said news agency ANI. Searches were conducted in connection with the coal levy money laundering case. The ED carried out the search at the office of Congress leader Ram Gopal Agarwal at Gore Complex under the Civil Lines police station. Industrialist Kamal Sarda’s residence at Shankar Nagar was also raided where CRPF personnel were present.

Chhattisgarh | ED reportedly conducted a search at different locations in Raipur today. The search was reportedly conducted at the office belonging to a Congress leader Ram Gopal Agarwal at Gore Parisar under Civil Lines police station and residence of industrialist Kamal Sarda…

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) March 28, 2023

ANI tweeted Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel saying, “All of this is being done at the behest of BJP's state-level and national-level leaders. ED should be impartial.”

All of this is being done at the behest of BJP's state-level and national-level leaders. ED should be impartial. They don't raid Karnataka which has a '40% Govt' and where Rs 6 Crores was found at an MLAs' residence. Adani saw a decline of 60% in his assets following the… pic.twitter.com/TSgWr2p0V3

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) March 28, 2023

He further said, “They (ED) don't raid Karnataka which has a '40 percent Govt' and where Rs 6 Crores was found at an MLAs' residence.”

He also hit out at the BJP and the central agencies for not conducting raids at Adani Group of Industries, which saw a decline of 60 percent in the assets after the Hindenburg report.

Bhupesh further said no section including industrialists, businessmen, transporters, MLAs, officers, and farmers has been spared from the raids by the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“It seems there is no ED office in MP, UP, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Karnataka,” said Bhupesh as quoted by ANI.

He further said, “As long as there was Uddhav Thackeray's Govt in Maharashtra, central agencies were active there. As long as there was a change of Govt there, the agencies became of no use there.”

Earlier on February 20, the probe agency had arrested nine people including Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel's deputy secretary, Saumya Chaurasia. This happened after the ED conducted searches at 14 locations across the state.

The raids took place ahead of the Congress party's four-day long plenary session in Raipur from February 24.

Similarly, in a separate incidence of ED raids on January 13, the ED conducted raids at multiple premises in Chhattisgarh, including that of an IAS officer, and other locations in connection with an ongoing money laundering probe.