ED serves notice to Telangana CM's daughter Kavitha in Delhi liquor case

Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate has served notice to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K. Kavitha in Delhi excise policy scam, directing her to appear it for questioning on Thursday.

Kavitha is a member of Telangana Legislative Council and a former Lok Sabha member from Nizamabad.

The ED notice came a day after the agency arrested Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, allegedly the frontman for Kavitha.

Kavitha was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same case in December last year.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader denied the allegations and termed them as politically motivated.

In the remand report filed in a Delhi court on Tuesday, the ED stated that Pillai is one of the key persons of the entire scam involving payments of huge kickbacks and the formation of the biggest cartel of the South Group.

According to the agency, South Group comprises Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Group), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (MP Ongole), his son Raghav Magunta, K. Kavitha (MLC, Telangana) and others. The South Group was being represented by Arun Pillai, Abhishek Boinpalli and Butchi Babu.

"Arun along with his associates was coordinating with various persons to execute the political understanding between the south Group and leader of AAP. Arun Pillai has been an accomplice and was involved in the kickbacks from the South Group and the recoupment of the same from the businesses in Delhi," the ED said.

The ED had earlier said that the South Group gave kickbacks of Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders.

According to the remand report, Arun Pillai is a partner of 32.5 percent in Indo Spirits, which had got an L1 license. Indo Spirits is a partnership firm of Arun (32.5 percent), Prem Rahul (32.5 percent) and Indospirit Distribution Limited (35 percent), wherein Arun and Prem Rahul represented the benami investments of K. Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghava Magunta respectively.

Arun, along with his associates, Abhishek Boinpalli, Butchi Babu on behalf of the South Group, orchestrated the whole scheme of forming a cartel of the manufacturers, wholesalers and retail which controlled more than 30 percent of the whole liquor business in Delhi, it said.

According to the remand report, Arun Pillai was involved in forming a cartel of manufacturers, wholesalers and multiple retail zones. He is a partner in Indo Spirits. In this partnership firm, Arun Pillai represented the interests of K. Kavitha.

Pillai and another person have revealed the same in their statements. Arun Pillai on paper invested Rs 3.40 crore in Indo Spirits. As revealed in the investigation, out of this amount, Rs 1 crore was given to Pillai on the instructions of Kavitha.

In exchange for kickbacks given by the South Group to Vijay Nair and AAP, Indo Spirit was made the wholesaler of Pernod Ricard which made it one of the most profitable L1. Thus, the fund of Rs 3.40 crore which was used to show investment in Indo Spirit (a special purpose vehicle to recoup the kickbacks paid by the South Group and channel the illegal gains) is proceeds of crime, the ED added.

With inputs from agencies