ED attaches Cong office in Chhattisgarh; assets of ex-minister Kawasi Lakhma

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate has attached a Congress party office in Chhattisgarh apart from assets of its MLA Kawasi Lakhma, worth a total of Rs 6.15 crore, in a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged liquor scam of more than Rs 2,100 crore that took place in the state during the previous government, official sources said.

A provisional order for attaching these properties has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The attached assets include those belonging to Lakhma, his son Harish Lakhma and the Congress office building in Sukma district, the sources said.

The federal agency had raided the premises of the Lakhma's in December 2024 in Raipur, Sukma and Dhamtari districts. The senior Lakhma was arrested by the ED too.

Lakhma, 72, is a six-time MLA from Konta assembly seat and has served as the excise minister in the Congress government led by former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Harish Lakhma is a panchayat president in Sukma.

The ED said the Chhattisgarh liquor "scam" resulted in "massive loss" to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of the liquor syndicate with more than Rs 2,100 crore of illegal proceeds of crime.

It has alleged that the proceeds generated from the illegal liquor trade were used to build the Congress office in Sukma. PTI NES ZMN