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Court sends Chaitanya Baghel, son of ex-Chhattisgarh CM, to judicial custody in liquor 'scam' case

Court sends Chaitanya Baghel, son of ex-Chhattisgarh CM, to judicial custody in liquor 'scam' case

RAIPUR: A special court here on Tuesday remanded Chaitanya Baghel, son of senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, in a 14-day judicial custody in a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor scam.
Chaitanya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 18 following a search at his house which he shares with his father in Bhilai town of Durg district in the state.
The accused was produced before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge (VI) Damarudhar Chouhan on Tuesday on expiry of his ED custody, the central probe agency's counsel Saurabh Kumar Pande told reporters.
During his custodial remand, Chaitanya was interrogated and confronted with statements and documents during which he conceded at many points.
There was not much left for interrogation so the ED requested the court for his judicial custody, he said.
The court sent him to jail in judicial custody till August 4, he added.
If required, he can be questioned by the agency with the court's permission, he said.
The ED claimed in a statement that Chaitanya "handled" more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of "proceeds of crime" generated from a liquor "scam" in the state and used Rs 16.7 crore for the development of his real estate project.
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