Chhattisgarh: Cong protests against ED's raids on ex-CM Baghel's home; alleges 'political vendetta'

Raipur, Mar 11 (PTI) A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, his party on Tuesday burnt the effigies of the BJP-led Union government and the central probe agency to condemn the action.

The grand old party alleged that the BJP has been misusing the ED to suppress the voice of the opposition in the state.

In a statement, the Congress said it staged a protest and burnt the effigies of the central government and the ED in all the district headquarters of the state, including in capital Raipur, the state Congress said in a statement.

"The ED has been acting like an agent of the BJP which has been misusing it to suppress the voice of the opposition. ED officials have forgotten their limitations as government employees and working like BJP workers," it added.

State Congress chief Deepak Baij said the BJP has been running its politics with the help of investigation agencies.

The ED's action at the residence of former CM and Congress general secretary Baghel was not an investigation but political vendetta, he added.

"If the BJP is thinking that Congress can be intimidated or stopped, then this is its biggest mistake. Congress has not bowed down, nor will it bow down. Now the answer to every conspiracy will be even stronger," Baij added.

The ED on Monday raided Baghel's residence in Bhilai town and 13 other locations in state's Durg district as part of a money laundering investigation against his son Chaitanya Baghel in an alleged liquor scam case.

The searches went on for about eight hours, during which the ED seized about Rs 30 lakh in cash and some documents, sources said.

Baghel on Monday said the ED raid at his premises was the outcome of the BJP's frustration. PTI TKP NP