K Kavitha, the leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for over 9 hours linked to the Delhi excise policy case. She was summoned by the investigation agency for recording her statement in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy.
Kavitha appeared before the ED and was confronted with the statements made by Arun Ramchandran Pillai, who was arrested earlier this week. A heavy presence of Delhi Police and central paramilitary forces personnel was observed during both Kavitha’s entry and exit from the ED office due to the protest staged by her supporters.
The ED has summoned Kavitha again on March 16 in connection with the case.
The ED has so far arrested 12 people in the case, including former Delhi deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia. It has also recorded the statement of Butchi Babu, a chartered accountant allegedly linked to Kavitha, where he said “there was political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and the deputy chief minister (Sisodia).
It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Kavitha recently asserted during a press conference that she had done nothing wrong and alleged that the BJP-led Centre was “using” the ED as the saffron party could not gain a “backdoor entry” in Telangana. T
The ED has alleged that Pillai “represented the benami investments” of Kavitha in the case.
(With inputs from agencies)
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