The CBI on Wednesday conducted simultaneous raids at 60 locations across Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal in one of its largest operations this year.

The large-scale crackdown is part of an expanding probe into the multi-crore Mahadev online betting app scandal and related corruption cases, targeting high-profile figures linked to financial irregularities during the previous Congress-led government in Chhattisgarh.

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The most significant searches were carried out at the residences of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, including his official bungalow in Raipur and his private home in Bhilai. This marks the second major enforcement action against the senior Congress leader this month, following an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid on March 10 in a separate money laundering investigation.

The CBI’s investigation has widened to include several top bureaucrats, politicians, and police officials. Among those under scrutiny are Baghel’s former Officers on Special Duty (OSDs) Ashish Verma and Manish Banchor, ex-secretary Saumya Chaurasia, Congress MLA Devendra Yadav, retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, and four senior IPS officers— Anand Chhabra, Abhishek Pallav, Arif Sheikh, and Prashant Agrawal. Additional SP Sanjay Dhruv and two constables, Nakul and Sahadev, are also reportedly under investigation.

The raids are reportedly linked to three major alleged scams— irregularities in the Mahadev online betting app operations, illegal coal mining activities, and the alleged manipulation of liquor policies in Chhattisgarh’s excise contracts.

The CBI also searched premises associated with Prashant Tripathi, director of KPS Group, indicating that the investigation has now expanded to private entities suspected of facilitating these illicit operations.

Early morning raids in Raipur, Durg, and Bhilai saw the deployment of over ten specialized teams, with security personnel, including CRPF officers, stationed outside key locations. The CBI teams seized financial documents, digital records, and other materials as part of their ongoing probe.

Reacting to the developments, Bhupesh Baghel took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), calling the raids politically motivated. “Now the CBI has arrived,” he wrote, questioning their timing, which coincided with his scheduled visit to Delhi for an AICC drafting committee meeting ahead of the party’s Gujarat conference on April 8–9.

This fresh action comes ahead of an April 4 court hearing on a revision petition filed by the CBI in the controversial sex CD case, in which Baghel was previously discharged. While the agency has not officially disclosed the precise reasons behind Wednesday’s operation, the BJP in Chhattisgarh has repeatedly accused the previous Congress government of widespread corruption.

The raids have further escalated political tensions in the state. BJP leaders described them as a necessary step toward accountability, while Congress leaders denounced them as an act of political vendetta.

The recent CBI raids have heightened political tensions in Chhattisgarh, with the BJP describing them as “justice in action,” while Congress leaders have denounced the move as “political vendetta.”

The growing scrutiny of the former Congress-led government marks a significant shift in the state’s political landscape. Political analysts suggest that these developments could have far reaching consequences, shaping public perception and influencing the political narrative in Chhattisgarh.