Raipur. In a major action, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested senior Congress leader and former state treasurer Ram Gopal Aggarwal today (Tuesday) in the money laundering case related to Chhattisgarh’s much-discussed alleged liquor scam of Rs 3200 crore. The Central Investigation Agency has taken this action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
ED’s Raipur zonal office has taken this action after interrogating him in a money laundering case related to the alleged liquor scam. Earlier, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Chhattisgarh Police had arrested him in the same case in July 2026. Syndicate and money laundering are being investigated in this alleged scam of Rs 3200 crore that took place between 2019 and 2022. Earlier, during the hearing held on August 5, 2026, the court had rejected his bail plea. He was sent to jail on judicial remand till August 14 in the coal levy case and till August 19 in the liquor scam case. Since he was already in jail, ED arrested him today after completing the paperwork inside the jail itself.
ED has produced him from jail in the special court (PMLA) of Raipur on the basis of production warrant. According to court sources, ED officials and lawyers have sought 7 days’ custodial remand of Ram Gopal Aggarwal from the court.
According to the ED investigation, this alleged scam took place between 2019 and 2022 during the tenure of the Congress government. The investigating agency alleges that an organized syndicate was active during this period, in which senior bureaucrats and politically influential people were involved. In this entire game, by controlling the excise system, a huge loss of about Rs 3200 crore was caused to the government exchequer.
The scope of investigation in this much-discussed case is large, in which six chargesheets have been filed so far and the names of a total of 81 accused have come to light. The names of many people including former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya Baghel, then Excise Commissioner Niranjan Das, then Joint Secretary Anil Tuteja, former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma and the then Deputy Secretary of the Chief Minister’s Office Soumya Chaurasia have come under the ambit of investigation.