Kavitha K or Kavitha Kalvakuntla was questioned thrice final 12 months in reference to the case and the ED had recorded her assertion underneath the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).(Photo: News18)
Kavitha, a member of the Telangana Legislative Council, was arrested by the central probe company at 5:20pm from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested BRS chief K Kavitha after conducting a daylong raid at her Hyderabad house on Saturday. The chief is now being delivered to Delhi for questioning in reference to a cash laundering case associated to the now-defunct Delhi excise coverage.
Kavitha, a member of the Telangana Legislative Council, was arrested by the central probe company at 5:20pm from her residence in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, in response to the arrest memo.
This isn’t the primary time that Enforcement Directorate has questioned Kavitha. In the final spherical of questioning by ED, officers stated, Kavitha was confronted with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, who was arrested within the case earlier and allegedly shared shut ties together with her.
Why Has Kavitha Been Arrested?
According to experiences, the arrest order indicated that the company holds grounds to suspect that Kavita has dedicated an offense punishable underneath the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
According to the chargesheet filed by the ED, Kavitha was implicated as a member of a “South Group” accused of paying Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to Aam Aadmi Party leaders. These funds have been allegedly made in change for illicit benefits underneath the defunct Delhi excise coverage.
“South Group comprises Telangana MLC Kavitha, Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Group), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (MP, Ongole), his son Raghav Magunta, and others. The South Group was being represented by Pillai, Abhishek Boinpalli and Butchi Babu,” revealed ED’s probem, reported information company ANI.
The investigation performed by the ED additionally revealed that Pillai acted as an confederate, taking part in kickbacks from the South Group and subsequently recovering these funds from companies in Delhi.
According to the ED, as per the assertion of Butchi Babu (the accountant), “there was a political understanding between K Kavitha and the (Delhi) chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and the (then Delhi) deputy chief minister (Manish Sisodia). In that process, K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair on March 19-20, 2021,” reported PTI.
What Was The Delhi Excise Police
In 2021, the AAP authorities launched many modifications to its liquor excise coverage. These modifications included the discontinuation of government-owned liquor shops, granting operation licenses to non-public entities. Additionally, the authorized ingesting age was lowered from 25 to 21 years. More, distinct registration standards for liquor manufacturers have been proposed, factoring in elements like pricing and gross sales efficiency outdoors of Delhi.
Moreover, the federal government proposed a considerable enhance within the annual liquor merchandising license price, from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 75 lakh. This transfer accompanied the withdrawal of the Delhi authorities from the liquor retail sector, as licenses have been awarded to 849 personal distributors by aggressive bidding.
However, the implementation of the coverage was swiftly clouded by allegations of corruption and favoritism within the licensing course of, voiced by the Opposition. Compounding the AAP’s challenges, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena initiated an investigation into the brand new excise coverage. Prompted by a report from Delhi’s prime bureaucrat, Saxena formally requested a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry.
Amidst the escalating controversy, the federal government introduced the rollback of the excise coverage.
