Priyanka Gandhi has criticized the central government following the arrest of Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). She characterized the move as a tactic to suppress opposition and silence dissent. Gandhi claimed that the government aimed to stop Bhupesh Baghel from raising the issue of alleged forest allocation to Gautam Adani’s Adani Group in the state assembly. The ED’s investigation is centered on a multi-crore liquor scam, with accusations of illegal commissions and money laundering. The ED alleges that a cartel of government officials, politicians, and liquor businessmen orchestrated a scheme to illicitly accumulate around Rs 2,161 crore from liquor sales between 2019 and 2022. The former Chief Minister’s office stated the ED’s arrival coincided with the last day of the Assembly session, when the issue of deforestation for Adani was scheduled to be raised. The agency had previously conducted raids on various individuals linked to the alleged scam.
