Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel claimed in a statement today that his son has not received any notice to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Baghel’s statement has come at a time when there is a stir over the fact that Chaitanya Baghel has been summoned to appear before the ED on March 15 to record his statement.

When the media asked Bhupesh Baghel whether his son will appear before the ED, he replied that if the notice has not been received, then the question of going (to the ED) does not arise. He said that when the summons are received, it will be acted upon. At the same time, Baghel said that the job of the ED is to create sensation in the media. This agency is being used to defame people. This is what they have been doing till now. The CD case was going on against me for 7 years, recently the court acquitted me of all the charges. This is a conspiracy of BJP to defame a political leader.

It is worth mentioning that on March 10, the ED had raided several places under the money laundering probe against Bhupesh Baghel’s son in the alleged excise scam case. Bhupesh Baghel’s residence in Bhilai town of Durg district was also raided. Apart from this, searches were also conducted at 13 other places including Chaitanya’s alleged close aide Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).