Raipur: The political slugfest has begun between the ruling Congress party and BJP in Chhattisgarh over the Enforcement Directorate's raid on Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's political advisor Vinod Verma's house on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Verma claimed he does not have a "single penny" of ill-gotten money, a day after the Enforcement Directorate conducted a search at his residence.
"I have no connection with assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Chandrabhushan Verma, who was arrested, along with three others by the ED on Wednesday, in a money laundering case, " Verma pointed out. The raids were conducted by the ED in connection with the alleged illegal betting app called 'Mahadev Online Book'. The alleged hawala operator brothers Anil and Sunil Dammani and a man identified as Satish Chandrakar were the three others arrested in the case on Wednesday.
Accusing the ED of committing "dacoity" in his house, Verma claimed that he furnished all the bills of jewellery found in his house, despite this, the ED collected all the valuables from my house. "I repeatedly queried the ED what was the basis of the raid and it should be explained to me. But, ED officials were saying that the onus was on me to prove how I footed the bills for these items. Hence, I was calling it a dacoity and a robbery," he added.
The ED's allegations were merely based on a "manohar kahani" (fictional news article) published in a magazine last year. "That fictional news article claimed Chandrabhushan Verma was related to me. I complained about the news article to the Durg police in December last year seeking a probe into it. I had also assured to cooperate with police in the probe into the matter," he said.
Also read: Congress slams BJP, says ED raids in Chhattisgarh 'vendetta politics'
However, Vinod Verma said he once met ASI Chandrabhushan Verma about two-and-a-half years ago and warned to take action against him if he misused the former's name. "I am not related to ASI Verma. I want to ask what proof the ED and Centre have that I am related to him. This raid is based on a fictional story and statement of just one person (arrested ASI) against me. They have no evidence at all," Vinod Verma claimed, adding he will approach court against the magazine.
Hitting out at BJP, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, "BJP fearing setback in forthcoming assembly polls in the state, has started adopting pressure tactic. The saffron party has begun sending the ED and I-T people to conduct raids and harass our Congress workers. The ED and Income Tax department are the two powerful wings of the BJP and the saffron party wants to contest the assembly polls with the help of these two agencies. During the previous Assembly elections, the BJP was confined to just 15 seats. People of the state have been watching BJP's game plan. This time around BJP will even lose those 15 seats."
