Bhupesh Baghel reveals how much money ED found in his house: ‘Own 140 acres of land’

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, whose house was raided by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday, has revealed the amount of money the agency found in his residence.

The Congress leader said he lives in the house with his wife, three daughters, a son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, and the total amount of cash recovered from all of them was ₹33 lakh.

Bhupesh Baghel said it wasn’t a big amount considering his sources of income, including 140 acres of land.

“I was reading the newspaper and having a cup of tea when the ED team arrived. I told them that they were welcome and that I had been waiting for them for months and years… My wife, three daughters, son, daughter-in-law, grandsons and granddaughters live here. We are into farming. In this joint family, we farm on 140 acres of land…We had what we had declared. They examined it. ₹33 Lakhs cash was found from different people – from my wife, son, daughter-in-law and daughters. We also do farming and have a dairy. This included streedhan (jewellery) too,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Baghel claimed the agency tried to create sensation by bringing note-counting machines.

“An atmosphere was created that note counting machines had been brought…I don’t think this is a very big amount…It is clear that now asking questions in Vidhan Sabha has become a crime,” he said.

ED raids premises linked to Bhupesh Baghel

The Enforcement Directorate raided the premises of Baghel in Bhilai town of Durg district as part of a money laundering investigation against his son, Chaitanya Baghel, in the alleged liquor scam case.

The premises of an alleged close associate of Chaitanya, Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal, and some others were also searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Baghel attributed the raid to him asking questions from the BJP government in the state assembly.

“Kawasi Lakhma asked questions and ED was at his residence within 8 days…He was jailed within 8 days. I asked Vijay Sharma about the residence for the poor. On the fourth day, they (ED) arrived at my residence,” he claimed.