ED searches Chhattisgarh Congress leader's home after arrest in liquor case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (August 20, 2026) conducted a search at the residence of Congress leader Ram Gopal Agrawal in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district. Agrawal was arrested by the central agency last week in connection with an alleged liquor scam, officials said.

Congress leaders and workers, including Dhamtari MLA Omkar Sahu, gathered outside Agrawal's residence in the Audyogik Ward area and staged a protest against the ED action. The demonstrators raised slogans against the central government and the ED. Meanwhile, the ED continued raids at a few other locations in Raipur, though officials have not yet confirmed which case those searches are linked to.

Addressing reporters in Raipur, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee president Deepak Baij alleged that central probe agencies are being used to intimidate Opposition leaders. "The ED and CBI action in Chhattisgarh is no longer a new thing. ED, CBI, Income Tax and other agencies have made it a routine to target and intimidate opposition leaders," Baij said.

"Ram Gopal Agrawal is already in the custody of the ED and is being questioned. Despite this, the ED has been conducting a raid at his residence. This is nothing new for us... Opposition leaders are being targeted and raids are being conducted to scare and threaten them," he claimed.

Agrawal was earlier arrested by the state's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) last month in connection with an alleged coal levy scam and was also being questioned in cases linked to the alleged liquor scam and rice custom milling, according to officials. The alleged scams took place during the previous Congress government in the state, when Agrawal was treasurer of the party's state unit. Both the ED and the EOW are probing these cases.

The ED arrested Agrawal on August 11 in connection with a money-laundering investigation linked to the alleged liquor scam while he was in jail as an undertrial in the EOW case, officials said.

According to the ED, the alleged liquor scam was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022, when Chhattisgarh was governed by a Congress government led by then Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The agency has alleged that a "criminal" syndicate involving senior bureaucrats and political figures had "completely hijacked" the State Excise Department, causing a loss of ₹2,883 crore to the state exchequer.

So far, the ED has filed six charge sheets and named 81 accused, including former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, Chaitanya Baghel (son of former CM Bhupesh Baghel), former Excise Commissioner Niranjan Das, retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, and former Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister's Office Saumya Chaurasia, among others. The EOW has claimed that the proceeds of crime linked to the alleged liquor scam could exceed ₹3,500 crore.

The latest search at Agrawal's residence comes amid a continuing political controversy over the investigation. While the ED and other central agencies maintain they are conducting lawful probes into financial irregularities, Opposition leaders argue that such actions are aimed at weakening political opponents ahead of elections.