Following CBI's purported exit from Raipur, the agency and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government have been slammed by former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
In a series of tweets on X, he stated: "I have come to know that the CBI came to my 'government house' in Raipur. I was not informed of this visit nor was I alerted by the officers who came to my Bhilai house. Entering my official house without my knowledge and consent is an outright overreach. Is the BJP hatching a conspiracy via the CBI?"
The ex-chief minister also stated on his post, "the CBI says their visit was connected with the Mahadev Satta App. Interestingly, this app was hardly heard of throughout the nation until our Congress government took strong action against it during my time as Chief Minister".
He also informed journalists that the CBI confiscated three of his mobile phones.
We registered 74 FIRs, made over 200 arrests and frozen more than 2,000 bank accounts. It was during our government that the app was taken off the Play Store after we officially asked Google to remove it. If we were the ones who cracked down on this app, how are we now being accused of protecting it? The ED actually circulated false reports of Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal being detained in Dubai when it turned out they were party to organizing Shiv Katha gatherings. What species of investigation is this?
" Baghel averred.
Earlier, he had stated: "The CBI has now left my house. Ironically, the Prime Minister will be visiting Chhattisgarh on the 30th. It appears these raids are being done to generate 'content' for his speech.".
"On Wednesday, the CBI searched my premises in Raipur and Bhilai, that of top policemen and a personal aide of mine, in the wake of alleged Rs 6,000 crore Mahadev App scam."
The Congress has already maintained that these searches are politically inspired and "we will not be intimidated by such tactics".
Sources say that the CBI also raided the offices of Congress MLA Devendra Yadav and IPS officers in Bhilai, Durg district. The raid was for more than 12 hours, and it is being said that many crucial documents were seized.
The state government had transferred 70 cases related to the Mahadev App scam last year, including one filed by the Economic Offences Investigation Branch (EOW), to the CBI.
The CBI in a statement on Wednesday added that it had seized digital and documentary evidences in the case in raids conducted at 60 locations in Bhopal, Raipur, Kolkata and Delhi including offices associated with politicians, top bureaucrats, police personnel, main functionaries of Mahadev Book, and other private parties suspected to be involved in the case.
The case involves the unlawful activities of Mahadev Book, an internet betting site advertised by Ravi Uppal and Saurabh Chandrakar, both of whom are presently residing in Dubai.
Originally registered with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Raipur, the case was later handed over to the CBI by the Chhattisgarh government for a thorough investigation into the involvement of high-ranking public servants and other accused individuals, the top investigation agency stated.
The investigations have uncovered that the promoters had allegedly made huge payments in the form of "protection money" to public officials for the smooth and unhampered operation of their illegal betting system. While the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is also probing the case, has accused a number of Chhattisgarh's top political leaders and bureaucrats of being involved. The ED has put the proceeds of crime in the case at around Rs 6,000 crore.
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