The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Magunta Raghava Reddy, son of a Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP, for allegedly being part of a ‘South Group’ that paid a Rs 100-crore bribe to AAP leaders in the Delhi liquorgate case.
With the arrest of Reddy, younger son of Andhra Pradesh MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, the ED appears to be closely scrutinising the alleged role of state MLC K Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao. Her name, too, figures in the South Group that is alleged to have paid a bribe for a share in the Delhi liquor business, the ED said in its prosecution complaint filed in a court here.
Magunta Raghav will be produced before a Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday to seek custody, said ED sources. Earlier, the CBI, which had originally registered the Delhi excise policy case, which the ED took over to probe its money laundering aspect, had also questioned Raghava Reddy on charges that he along with other members of the South Group had tried to influence the excise scheme and, subsequently, paid the bribe to get the liquor business.
The businessline on February 2 reported that the ED in its supplementary complaint had alleged that AAP media in-charge, Vijay Nair, on behalf of his party leaders, received Rs 100 crore in kickbacks from the South Group, a part of which was routed to fund the Goa elections. In the supplementary complaint, the ED had referred to the name of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on multiple occasions to draw his connection with Nair, to allegedly infer that the latter was acting on the former’s behalf in the scam.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia along with other excise department officials and private players have been named as accused in the Delhi excise scam FIR. Sisodia, however, has not been named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI as well as the ED.
On Tuesday, the ED arrested Gautam Malhotra, son of former Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Deep Malhotra, on money laundering charges. Gautam Malhotra -- a director of OASIS group, the liquor manufacturing and distribution company -- is an associate of another accused Amit Arora, Director of Buddy Retail Pvt. Ltd. Arora, too, was put behind bars by ED in this case
On the same day, the CBI picked up Hyderabad-based chartered accountant (CA), Butchibabu Gorantla, after scrutiny of his WhatsApp chats revealed that he was in close contact with other accused in the case. The agency disclosed that Gorantla was also the auditor of MLC K Kavitha.