BRS leader K Kavitha arrested by ED in connection with liquor scam
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Hyderabad: In relation to the Delhi liquor scandal, BRS MLC and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha was taken into custody by Enforcement Directorate authorities on Friday night. She was taken to jail after over three hours of searches at her Hyderabad home by ED agents.
When a huge group of BRS activists gathered at Kavitha's home in an attempt to impede the ED officers who were there to arrest her, tensions ran high. But Kavitha has a plane ticket, and the ED officials will transfer her to Delhi tonight.
Kavitha was sent with a summons to appear for questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently. She however avoided it. Kavitha had likewise eluded the summons from the ED a while back, the New Indian Express reported.
Despite not being listed as an accused in the liquor scam charge sheet, Kavitha was interrogated by the ED and CBI under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It's interesting to note that Kavitha was arrested just minutes prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's roadshow in Hyderabad's Malkajgiri Lok Sabha district.
"Wherever (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi goes, ED and IT (Income Tax) either precede or succeed. That is what is happening in Telangana. They want to create a panic situation in the BRS. The ED and IT, which are working at the behest of the BJP, are not bothered about the Congress leaders of Telangana who have illegally obtained so much wealth," BRS leader Sravan told PTI.
Sravan inquired as to why the BJP is "tight-lipped" about the allegations made against Revanth Reddy, the chief minister of Telangana.
"We believe in Satyameva Jayate. Let the truth prevail. We are not saying that IT and ED should not do their jobs, but selectiveness is vindictiveness. Just before the elections, they are trying to do this mudslinging to dent the image of the BRS," he added.
The "South Group"—said to be managed by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha, and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy—is purported to have paid kickbacks totalling at least Rs 100 crore to one of the defendants in the case, Vijay Nair, according to the Enforcement Directorate.
When the ED officials arrived at Kavitha's house, BRS leaders and former Ministers KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao got into an argument with ED. They questioned the ED's ability to obtain an arrest order in the absence of a transit warrant.