The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary chargesheet against Ramgopal Agrawal, the then treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC), before the Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the high-profile Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The chargesheet was filed on 9 October by the ED's Raipur Zonal Office, officials confirmed on Monday, 12 October. Simultaneously, the agency issued a Provisional Attachment Order on 8 October, attaching two immovable properties in Raipur valued at ₹9.06 crore.

Agrawal's Arrest and Custody

Ramgopal Agrawal was arrested by the ED on 11 August in connection with this case and is currently in judicial custody. He served as the state Congress treasurer during the period under investigation. The ED's action against him represents one of the most direct links yet established between the alleged syndicate and the ruling party's organisational finances during the 2019–2023 period.

The ₹2,883 Crore Syndicate: How It Worked

According to the ED, a liquor syndicate effectively controlled the state's Excise Department and the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Ltd (CSMCL) between 2019 and 2023, generating Proceeds of Crime exceeding ₹2,883 crore. The alleged scheme operated through four channels: illegal commission on the supply of country liquor (Part A), sale of unaccounted liquor through government shops using duplicate holograms (Part B), annual commission from distillers (Part C), and the FL-10A licence mechanism for foreign liquor.

Cash Delivered to Congress Office, Probe Finds

Investigation revealed, according to the ED, that a substantial portion of the syndicate's cash was handled by Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu Bansal and delivered to Rajiv Bhawan — the CPCC office at Shankar Nagar, Raipur — on the directions of Agrawal. The cash was reportedly handed over there to Devendra Dadsena, an accountant working under Agrawal. The ED alleges that approximately ₹860 crore connected to the scam was routed through this channel, of which about ₹72 crore remained under Agrawal's control and was reportedly retained, used, or distributed on his instructions. The agency said contemporaneous digital records, call detail records, and statements recorded under Section 50 of PMLA corroborate the delivery mechanism and Agrawal's role.

Properties Attached, Total Seizures Cross ₹610 Crore

The ED has provisionally attached Agrawal's two flats in Anupam Nagar and Katora Talab, Raipur, valued collectively at ₹9.06 crore, as property of equivalent value. With this latest attachment, the total value of assets attached, seized, or frozen in the case has crossed ₹610.34 crore. Earlier actions in the same case included the filing of a prosecution complaint and six supplementary chargesheets, and the arrest of nine persons — among them former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arun Pati Tripathi, and Chaitanya Baghel.

Investigation Continues

The ED stated that investigation into identifying other beneficiaries of the Proceeds of Crime is still ongoing. The case was originally initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing / Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB), Raipur under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Tuteja, Dhebar, Tripathi, Lakhma, and others. The expanding scope of the probe signals that further chargesheets and attachments remain possible as the agency traces the full trail of alleged proceeds.