Delhi excise policy: Incarcerated BRS leader K Kavitha arrested by CBI

The CBI arrested her after obtaining permission from a special court. “The CBI had questioned Kavitha inside the prison on Saturday after obtaining permission from the special court. She was questioned in connection with WhatsApp chats recovered from the phone of Butchibabu Gorantla (a chartered accountant and co-accused) and documents related to a land deal after which Rs 100 crore was allegedly paid to the AAP in kickbacks to swing the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy in favour of a liquor lobby,” a source said.

According to the source, Kavitha’s statement was recorded earlier but now the CBI had gathered information sufficient to place her under arrest.

“The investigation so far has revealed that one of the accused in the case, Vijay Nair, received kickbacks to the tune of at least Rs 100 crore from a group called South Group (allegedly controlled by Kavitha, YSRCP MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy and P Sarath Chandra Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma) on behalf of leaders of the AAP,” the source said.

Special judge Kaveri Baweja had permitted the CBI to interview Kavitha in Tihar Jail after submitting a written notice to the Jail Superintendent a day earlier.

On April 8, judge Baweja denied interim bail to Kavitha, observing that “from the material placed before this court, it appears that the applicant not only engaged in destruction of material evidence by formatting her phones before joining the investigation” but has also “been instrumental in influencing witnesses and there is every likelihood of her continuing to do so in case the relief prayed for is granted to her”.