The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, March 15, arrested K Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana's former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
K Kavitha, 46, a Telangana Legislative Council member, was arrested by the central probe agency at 5.20 pm from her residence at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.
Former Telangana minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said Kavitha was being taken to Delhi on a flight at 8.45 pm.
According to News18, K Kavitha is being brought to Delhi to complete the chain of evidence in the Delhi liquor policy scam case. Further K Kavitha is likely to be faced with senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, who are in judicial custody in this case, including Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia.
Amit Arora, a key witness who ‘confessed' to the ED on the alleged ‘bribes that were designed and secured in the Delhi liquor policy’ scam case, also could be brought face to face with K Kavitha.
The News18 report also says that this is the reason why K Kavitha is being brought to Delhi from Hyderabad. It is also likely that Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who has been evading ED summons, will be brought face to face with K Kavitha.
K Kavitha will undergo a medical check-up and be remanded in ED custody.
While getting bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is not easy, the Supreme Court has adjourned her case hearing till March 19.
K Kavitha asserted that she had done nothing wrong. She alleged that the Centre was "using" the ED as the BJP could not gain a "backdoor entry" into Telangana.
According to videos posted by media channels, K Kavitha was seen involved in a heated exchange with ED officials. K Kavitha left her residence flanked by her family members and her son, in what the BRS lawmaker stated was a “show of strength”.
K Kavitha's brother and BRS leader KT Rama Rao was also seen in the video claiming that the ED officials were functioning completely arbitrarily. BRS working president KT Rama Rao, former minister Harish Rao and a large number of party workers gathered at Kavitha's residence and raised slogans.
The Enforcement Directorate had claimed that Kavitha was linked to a "South Group" lobby of liquor traders who were trying to play a larger role under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.
It alleged that one of the accused in the case, Vijay Nair, received kickbacks to the tune of at least ₹100 crore on behalf of AAP leaders from the "South Group", allegedly controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy.
The "South Group", according to the ED, comprises Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Pharma), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (YSR Congress MP from Ongole Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh), his son Raghav Magunta, Kavitha and others.
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