Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of making a "malicious attempt" to tarnish his image ahead of the assembly polls in the state this month. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of taking help of central investigation agencies after failing to take on the ruling Congress in the state.
The ED earlier on Friday claimed that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a 'cash courier' have led to "startling allegations" that Mahadev betting app promoters paid about Rs 508 crore to the Chhattisgarh chief minister so far, and that "these are subject matter of investigation".
Baghel, in a social media post uploaded late in the evening, said, As I have said earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party wants to contest Chhattisgarh elections with the help of agencies like ED, IT, DRI and CBI. Just before the elections, ED has made the most malicious attempt to tarnish my image. This is a political attempt through ED to defame the popular Congress government."
In the name of investigation into Mahadev betting app, the ED first raided the houses of people who were close to him and now on the basis of the statement of an unknown person it has accused him of taking Rs 508 crore, he said. See the cunningness of ED that after revealing the statement of that person, it has written in a short sentence that the statement is a subject matter of investigation. If no investigation has been done then issuing a press release on the statement of one person not only reflects the intentions of the ED but also reveals the bad intentions of the Central Government, Baghel said.
At present, elections are going on in the state. Everything is in the hands of the Election Commission. Apart from the police, CRPF personnel are conducting checks. In such a situation, the question arises how people have managed to reach Chhattisgarh with such a huge amount of cash. Is there any involvement of central agencies in this too? Has this amount been brought in the chests which have reached (Raipur) by a special plane with ED officers and security agencies?" he asked.
Prime minister Modi and Union home minister Shah together were not able to take on the Congress in Chhattisgarh, so they wanted to contest the elections with the help of investigation agencies, Baghel alleged. "I have given statements against the ED and have been telling the people about how ED works. It first decides the names of the people and then arrests them, intimidates them and forces them to give statements against others. They (ED) can go to any extent as thrashing and threatening are normal things, he said.
Congress workers are ready and the people of Chhattisgarh are with them to fight against agencies like ED and IT, the chief minister said.
Polling for the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.
