Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya Baghel. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
RAIPUR
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) said on Monday (June 1, 2026) that it had provisionally attached properties with a deed value of ₹200 crore and combined market value of over ₹1000 crore in connection with the alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.
“The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Raipur Zonal Office, issued three Provisional Attachment Orders (PAOs) on 28.05.2026 under the PMLA, 2002, provisionally attaching the properties,” the ED said.
The attached properties include a hotel in Goa for which ₹110 crore was paid in unaccounted cash sourced from the liquor scam and physically transported at the instance of Chaitanya Baghel, son of senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the agency claimed. Mr. Chaitanya Baghel is one of the accused in the case and is currently out on bail.
“The second PAO, attaches Hotel Westinn Goa [Village Anjuna, North Goa], a premium hotel property standing in the name of M/s Pacifica Hotels India Private Limited, whose directors include Rahul Agrawal and Vijay Kumar Agrawal [both accused in the liquor scam]. The hotel was acquired entirely out of Proceeds of Crime for a total consideration of approximately ₹110 crore,” the ED stated.
The agency is probing the money laundering angle in the scam that surfaced in the State between 2019 and 2023 when Mr. Bhupesh Baghel was the Chief Minister. So far 85 accused have been named in the case, including Mr. Chaitanya Baghel.
Of the two other PAOs, one was issued for assets worth ₹30 crore and includes immovable properties — multiple plots and land parcels — linked to co-accused Vikas Agrawal and Anwar Dhebar.
Financial manager
“Vikas Agrawal functioned as the ground-level financial manager of the syndicate, collecting commissions from distilleries and FL-10A licensees and routing funds directly to Anwar Dhebar. Properties standing in the names of Shri Vikas Agrawal’s family members are attached as value equivalent to his Proceeds of Crime. Further, benami properties of Anwar Dhebar — comprising multiple plots in Dhebar City Homes, Raipur [held through M/s A. Dhebar Buildcon, a firm under his beneficial control] and five land parcels in Raipur [held through shell entities M/s Shining Star Buildcon, M/s Moonlight Real Estate, M/s Swarn Infrabuild, and M/s Jai Gurudev Infrastructure] — are also attached as direct Proceeds of Crime laundered through the liquor scam. The total attachment under this PAO is approximately ₹30 Crore,” the ED further stated.
An ED official said that the third PAO attaches bank accounts, shares, and mutual funds of the three FL-10A licensee companies and aggregate to ₹51 crore. These three companies — M/s Om Sai Beverages Pvt. Ltd., M/s Dishita Ventures Pvt. Ltd., and M/s Nexgen Power Engitech Pvt. Ltd. — were compelled to remit 50–60% of their profits to the syndicate, the official added.
The ED’s statement also revealed that it has also filed its Sixth Supplementary Prosecution Complaint (chargesheet) before the Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, arraigning four more accused: Vijay Bhatia (businessman with close links to the syndicate who had a 52.5% benami stake in M/s Om Sai Beverages transferred to him under coercion), T. Bhuneshwar Rao, Probir Sharma (who physically transported crores of rupees in cash on behalf of the syndicate), and Nikhil Chandrakar.
Published – June 01, 2026 10:53 pm IST
