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Chhattisgarh Finance Minister OP Choudhary on Tuesday refuted "baseless allegations" of former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, saying that his statements were meant to "divert" attention and "save" his son.
"...To divert attention from this issue and to save his son, hide his corruption, he is raising different issues and making baseless allegations..." the Minister said during a press conference. Choudhary's remarks came after Baghel alleged that the Enforcement Directorate's arrest of his son was an "attempt to prevent him from raising the issue of trees being felled by the Adani Group" in the state assembly. Earlier, Baghel slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the arrest of his son by the ED in connection with the ongoing investigation into the alleged multi-crore liquor scam in Chhattisgarh. "PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah cannot tolerate anything against Adani. The day the ED arrested my son, we were protesting in the Vidhan Sabha on the issue of illegal cutting of trees by (Gautam) Adani," Baghel had told reporters. Bhupesh Baghel hit out at the Enforcement Directorate (ED), labelling it as a "wing" of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Responding to remarks made by the Supreme Court regarding the ED, Baghel said that it was a "slap" for the central agency to be told to do its job. "No remarks can be bigger than this. It is against the centre and ED. The way ED is working as a wing of the BJP...It is a slap that ED was told to do their work and let the politicians do their politics. However, the way the situation has developed nationwide, all these actions are being taken by targeting the people of the opposition," Baghel told reporters. On July 18, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Chaitanya Baghel, the son of Bhupesh Baghel. The move comes after the agency seized Rs 30 lakh from the residence of Bhupesh Baghel and his son Chaitanya in March this year. The amount was recovered during a day-long search operation conducted at a total of 14 locations across Chhattisgarh in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the liquor trade in Chhattisgarh, involving suspected illegal commissions and money laundering. ED has gathered that Chaitanya Baghel is also "recipient of proceeds of crime generated from the liquor scam, wherein total proceeds of crime is around Rs 2,161 crore siphoned off through various schemes." (ANI)
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