A Congress MLA was arrested in a cheating case in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir Champa district on Friday (January 9, 2026), the police said. It is alleged that Baleshwar Sahu, who represents the Jaijaipur constituency, and an accomplice cheated a farmer of ₹47 lakh by fraudulently transferring money from the victim’s account to his own.
A police officer said that between 2015 and 2020, when Mr. Sahu served as manager of the District Cooperative Society, Bamhnidih, he advised the complainant, Ram Kumar Sharma, to take a Kisan Credit Card loan on his 50 acres of land. “They opened an account for the applicant at HDFC Bank, Champa. He obtained a blank cheque from the applicant and transferred ₹24 lakh to his own and his wife’s accounts. Furthermore, the accused forged the applicant’s signatures and thumb impressions, and withdrew a total of ₹42.78 lakh,” the officer said.
A case was registered at Champa police station. A police statement issued on Friday said that on investigation, “Honourable MLA Shri Baleshwar Sahu, MLA of Jaijaipur Assembly constituency and Gautam Rathore were found to have cheated the applicant of ₹42,78,000”.
“On investigation and evidence collection, the crime sections were found proven against Gautam Rathore and Honourable MLA Shri Baleshwar Sahu of Jaijaipur district Shakti Assembly constituency and the investigation in the case was completed. A chargesheet was prepared and presented in the Honourable Court on 9.1.2026,” the police stated.
