Bhupesh Baghel called ED raids as politics of revenge, said – there was no search warrant

Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday said that the raids carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at his residence are a political vendetta by the BJP-led central government to harass the opposition. Baghel claimed that ED officials reached his Durg residence at 7:30 am when he was having tea. He further alleged that when he asked for the ECIR number, he was not given it, which is similar to an FIR. Speaking to reporters, Baghel said that the ED does not have any Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) number. When we asked for it, they had no answer. Seven years ago, a serious allegation was made against me. Nothing was found in that case because the Supreme Court acquitted me. They will not get anything in this case either. Baghel further alleged that he was neither allowed to enter the Chhattisgarh Assembly nor to use the phone. Baghel claimed that they did not let me go to the Assembly today. They even stopped me from talking on the phone. My daughter, my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren live here. We mainly earn by farming on 140 acres of land. Earlier today, the central probe agency raided 14 places in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district, including the residences of Bhupesh Baghel and his son Chaitanya, in connection with the alleged liquor scam. Congress party general secretary KC Venugopal, in a post on ‘X’, claimed that the raids were part of a diversionary tactic by the government to avoid answers on key issues in Parliament. “These are diversionary tactics. Whenever Parliament is in session, people’s burning issues should be discussed, but they want to run away from these issues… The government does not want to discuss people-centric issues. So, whenever Parliament is in session, they adopt these diversionary tactics. Let them do it,” he said.