Delhi Excise Policy case BRS President Kavita appeared before ED
New Delhi, March 11 (PTI) PRS chief K Kavita deposed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday as the agency is set to confront her along with the arrested accused and record her statement in connection with the money laundering probe. Irregularities in Delhi Excise Policy.
The 44-year-old daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao arrived at the federal agency’s headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road around 11 am from her father’s official residence on Tughlaq Road, 1.5 km away.
Even as supporters of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (PRS) chief staged a protest on APJ Abdul Kalam Road, the Delhi Police and central paramilitary forces laid siege to the ED office.
The ED had asked Kavita to depose her on March 9, but she sought a new date because of the day-long hunger strike planned here on Friday, demanding passage of the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill in the budget session of Parliament.
The BRS MLC has been summoned by the agency to confront Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, the alleged frontman of the “South Group” arrested by the ED earlier this week.
The agency will also record Kavita’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Pillai is in ED custody till March 12 (he will appear in court again on March 13) and the agency had earlier said that he “represented the southern group”, the liquor cartel allegedly linked to Kavita and others to market in the national capital under the Delhi Excise Policy for 2020-21. 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to acquire the stake.
According to the ED, the “southern group” includes Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Pharma), Magunda Srinivasulu Reddy (YSR Congress MP from Andhra’s Ongole Lok Sabha constituency), his son Raghav Magunda, Kavitha and others.
ED also alleged in Pillai’s remand papers that he represented Kavitha’s benami investments in the case.
The PRS chief was earlier questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the case.
The Enforcement Directorate has so far arrested 12 people including former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in this case.
It also recorded the statement of Chartered Accountant Putshi Babu, who is said to be associated with Kavita, where he said, “There was a political understanding between K Kavita and the Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and Deputy Chief Minister (Sisodia). K Kavita also met Vijay Nair on March 19-20, 2021”.
Nair was arrested by both ED and CBI in the case. Putshi Babu has been arrested by the CBI.
According to Putshi Babu’s report, Nair “tried to impress Kavita on what he could do about (excise) policy”.
“Vijay Nair acted on behalf of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia,” the report filed by the Enforcement Directorate said.
The Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 has been accused of allowing licensing of liquor dealers and favoring some dealers who allegedly paid bribes, a charge the Aam Aadmi Party strongly denied.
The policy was later revoked and the Lt Governor of Delhi recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
