RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh police on Sunday filed an FIR against former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel in the online Mahadev App betting scam case. Though the FIR was filed on March 4, it was announced on Sunday a day after the Lok Sabha polling dates were announced. Baghel is the Congress candidate for the Rajnandgaon constituency where the election will be held on April 26.
“It is a political FIR and my name has been deliberately inserted into it along with others under pressure,” Baghel said.
“If the case was registered in Raipur on March 4, why then the FIR copy was released and published from Delhi on March 17 Sunday. Usually, EOW or police station uploads FIR the same day on the website. The maximum action against Mahadev App has been taken in Chhattisgarh (during Congress regime),” he said, adding that it is for the Centre to get the key accused extradited to India.
The investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) indicated the alleged involvement of senior politicians and bureaucrats in facilitating the Mahadev App illegal betting in reciprocity for “protection money”.
In the App betting scam, presumed to be over Rs 6,000 crore, the name of Baghel was conspicuously cited in the supplementary chargesheet of the ED filed early this year before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Raipur.