Chhattisgarh Chief Minister’s Adviser Challenges ED’s Evidence Amidst Raids

New Delhi, August 24, 2023: Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s political adviser, Vinod Verma, has strongly contested the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raid on his premises in connection with an online betting case.

Verma, whose house was among the locations raided, asserted his innocence and challenged ED to provide evidence linking him to the arrested police officer, Chandra Bhushan Verma.

ED’s raid on Wednesday was part of a money laundering investigation related to the online betting case. Verma compared the raid to a dacoity and accused ED officials of taking away jewelry from his house despite producing receipts for them.

Late Wednesday, ED announced the arrest of four individuals, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in Chhattisgarh police, Chandra Bhushan Verma, for laundering proceeds from the online betting scam.

Verma challenged ED to present evidence of his connection with ASI Verma, stating, “I challenge ED to give any evidence about any sort of connection with him… Was the ED raid based on merely the statement of just one person against me?” He argued that the entire case against him was built upon a fictional magazine article that falsely implicated him in the betting scam.

ED’s statement claimed that ASI Verma had admitted to receiving and paying substantial monthly bribes to influential individuals and that the bribes increased after certain police actions in May 2022. The ED investigation is based on FIRs registered by Chhattisgarh Police and reveals a complex web of illegal betting operations facilitated by Mahadev Online Book, whose promoters operated from Dubai.